


Double Date

by coolandcreativetwo



Category: Epic (2013), Kari-gurashi no Arietti | The Secret World of Arrietty
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Two-Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-05 13:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 29,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolandcreativetwo/pseuds/coolandcreativetwo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Shawn calls M.K. one day, she discovers they share a knowledge of tiny people, which encourages her to suggest that they, along with the tiny people they most connected with, should hang out together. There's just one problem: is the new Queen of Moonhaven willing to use her magic to have Nod and Arrietty the same size as M.K. and Shawn?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Part

It had only been just a few weeks since M.K.'s adventure in Moonhaven, but she still could remember all of the events from that whole experience fresh in her mind. From flying a hummingbird and enjoying an enthralling deer ride through the forest to teaming up with her father to defeat the evil Boggans from destroying the forest, a few great things happened. The relationship between M.K. and her father, Bomba, wasn't so strained anymore and in fact, had become much stronger, with the two of them doing research on the Leafmen's world together. M.K. had also began a relationship with a rookie warrior named Nod, and there wasn't a problem when it came to communication, because M.K. had her father's equipment to thank for taking care of that issue.

Whenever they spent time together, M.K. always made sure to be extra careful, as she didn't want to stay true to the title of a Stomper and accidentally squash Nod to death. They've done a lot of fun things over the past couple of weeks, such as read wonderful stories, and talk about what's been happening in each other's lives. Occasionally, M.K. would wish that Nod was the same size as she was, so that way, he could be able to discover her own world, just like she did with his world. Although, as much as she's been thinking about it a lot lately, M.K. never did bring this up when she hung out with Nod, since she didn't want for him to be upset. M.K. was currently in her bedroom, trying to drown out her thoughts about the size issue with her iPod, and obviously, she couldn't hear her father knocking on her door.

"Hey, M.K.!" Bomba shouted, as he opened up her room with one hand, while using the other to keep knocking on the door a little longer. "There's a phone call for you!"

Luckily, his daughter had managed to hear his voice through her earphones, so she quickly got them out and turned off her ipod before responding. "Really, from who?"

"It's a boy, and I think he said that his name was...Shawn." Bomba said, "He also told me that he had something really important to talk about with you. Is he your boyfriend, M.K.?" He asked.

"What?" M.K. replied in a surprised tone, although she was expecting to hear that question. "No, Dad, he isn't, and I haven't actually talked to him for a few months now." She added, while getting out of her bed.

Before Bomba could ask M.K. any more questions, she had already left her room and went down the stairs to pick up the phone, she instantly wondered if Shawn was calling her all the way from Japan. M.K. had first met Shawn back when she was a lot younger, and her mother was still alive, but Shawn never did become her boyfriend, because M.K. wasn't interested in him as anything more than just a friend. It's not like M.K. didn't like Shawn, it's just that M.K.'s never been able to keep up a relationship for more than five months before she moved away, leaving a trail of broken hearts behind her along the way.

M.K. had never met Shawn's parents, nor did he ever meet hers either, but M.K. did know that Shawn was the son of one of her dad's friends, although she had never known if it was Shawn's mother or father. She believed that friendship had ended either because of her dad's obsession with the Leafmen, which probably must have begun to grow at the time, or something else that had nothing to do with the Leafmen at all. Whenever the two hung out together, they always enjoyed each other's company, from bonding over a love of reading fantasy novels, like beautiful fairy tales and awe-inspiring adventures, to relaxing at the local park.

M.K didn't expect that Shawn would be moving away anytime soon, but she was sad to realize that it was happening when Shawn called her to say that he was going to live in Japan so that he could spend time with family. She wanted to know exactly why did he have to move, and Shawn told her it was because he had a problem with his heart, and it was so bad that he needed to have surgery, or else, he wouldn't get better anytime soon. M.K. suddenly felt guilty and believed that it was her fault why Shawn's health had gotten much worse, but Shawn told her that it wasn't her fault at all, and she shouldn't blame herself for the problems with his heath.

Although Shawn said that he was scared the operation wouldn't be very successful, the boy also said that he was glad to have had a friend like M.K., and finally, he was going to miss her so much while he was away in Japan. From the way that he sounded, it seemed like Shawn didn't believe that there was even a good chance that having surgery would work for him, and he was sure that his death was going to be coming a lot sooner than he thought. Before the conversation between them was over, M.K. told Shawn that he shouldn't give his hopes up so quickly, and she truly believed that a miracle could happen, and maybe someday, they would get a chance to see each other again. Shawn thanked M.K. for her kind words and then said goodbye, before hanging up the phone altogether, and ever since then, M.K. had held hope that Shawn would get better, he'd come back and find her, so that they could hang out.

"Hello, Shawn, are you still there?" M.K. asked, and she knew that he wouldn't be upset for having to wait a while before he heard her voice, because M.K. has also known that Shawn was always patient when it came to her.

"Yes, I'm here, M.K., and it's so good to hear your voice again. It's been so long since we last talked! I'm sure that a lot of things have happened in your life while I was away, so please, I want to know everything!" Shawn answered.

M.K. immediately took a moment to think of whether or not she should tell Shawn about the Leafmen, but wondered if Shawn would actually believe her, or think that she became just plain crazy and made up her own friends to hang out with.

"Well, Shawn, to be honest, there isn't that much to tell, but after my Mom passed away, I moved from the city to live with my Dad, who you should know is a scientist, and he's been doing a lot of research on something he loves." M.K. explained.

"I'm sorry about your mother, M.K., and I know that she meant a lot to you," Shawn said, and a few seconds passed before he spoke again. "So your father is an scientist? That's great, so what has he been doing research on?" He asked.

"Shawn, you're probably going to think that it's quite silly, but I'll tell you anyway," M.K. replied, and she took a deep breath before talking. "My Dad has been doing research on little people, and I can explain it if you want me to. . ." She offered.

"Okay, I'd like to hear all about it," Shawn replied, and so he simply let M.K. tell him everything that she'd experienced from moving in with her father, to the battle she had with the Leafmen to protect the forest of Moonhaven against the Boggans.

After M.K. was finally finished, she gave Shawn about half a minute to take it all in, while taking a few more deep breaths before talking to him again. "Shawn, I swear that I didn't make all of this up in my head, and it's the truth." M.K. claimed.

"Don't worry, M.K., I believe you, and I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one who got to spend time with little people, so would you like to hear about my own adventure?" Shawn asked, while having an excited tone in his voice.

"Of course, Shawn, please tell me," M.K. answered, as she let Shawn tell her about all of the things that he'd experienced from the flight that he took to arrive in Japan to the emotional farewell that he had with the Borrower named Arrietty.

"Who would've thought that both of us would have an amazing adventure while we were away from each other, but I think that yours was much better than mine because you got to be shrunk down to their size." Shawn said, enviously.

"I don't think that my adventure with the Leafmen is far from over, Shawn, because I became my Dad's assistant, and thanks to his equipment, we still keep regular contact with them, as well as continue the research of their world." M.K. replied.

"Wow, M.K, you're so lucky, but in my case, if it hadn't been for Arrietty, then I never would've gotten hope to live through the operation, not that you weren't helpful, because I still appreciate everything that you've said to me." Shawn said.

"I'm glad to hear that, and thanks to my time spent with the Leafmen, I'm now become much more open-minded and confident, and what's more, is that one of the Leafmen became my boyfriend, and he makes me really happy." M.K. responded.

"I won't bother to ask anything because I don't think that your personal life of any of my business, but it's good to know that you're happy, and even though I didn't see Arrietty for a while after she left, but eventually, she did come back." Shawn revealed.

"So what happened next? Did she and her family stay with you this time, or did they have to leave again, and I'm sorry if I'm being a little too nosy." M.K. said, although she still was very curious to know what happened to the Borrowers.

"They're now staying with me, but even though my parents live in the house, Arrietty and her family are very careful with making sure that they don't ever get caught, but it's not much of a problem, since my parents are usually out working." Shawn explained.

"So I guess your parents don't believe that little people even exist, and that's sad, because I'm sure that if they did believe in their existence and got to know them better like you did, then they'd realize that little people aren't so bad." M.K. said.

"My mother used to believe that they did exist when she was younger, but eventually, she decided to give up hope that she would see them someday, and she had to move on in her life, but I don't think that she would believe me if I told her about them." Shawn replied.

"I'm sorry, Shawn, that's too bad, but I'm positive that if you were to bring Arrietty and her parents over here to meet me and Bomba, then we'd probably end up having a great time, but it would be much better if they were the same size like us." M.K. suggested.

"Yes, it would. . .but wait a minute, M.K., how did you manage to get shrunk down to the size of the Leafmen, and then come back to your normal size?" Shawn asked curiously.

"The previous queen of the forest had recently chosen an heir to the throne, but since she wasn't able to protect it, she breathed all of her energy into it, so when I caught it in my hands, that's how I got shrunk, it was all thanks to the queen's magic." M.K. explained.

"If the new queen can use her magic to shrink people like us down to the size of Arrietty and her family, as well as the Leafmen, then would it be possible for her to use her magic to have them grow to our size, even if it's only for a few hours?" Shawn questioned.

"I'm not really sure about that, Shawn, because the new queen is quite young, and it would be hard for her, but I think that in order to find out, I'll need to get my boyfriend to ask her if she can do that, and I'll get back to you, but what's your phone number?" M.K. asked.

She made sure to get a pen and pad when Shawn told her what his number was, and M.K. wrote it down before saying goodbye to him and hanging up the phone, so after M.K. put the phone back in its' system, she went over to the computer and sat down in the chair. M.K. was hoping to hear a beep noise go off about three times and then see an image of Nod come up on the screen, but it didn't happen, so just when she decided not to wait anymore, put on a helmet, and go out into the forest to look for him, an image appeared.

"Oh, M.K., is this a bad time," Nod assumed, as he saw his girlfriend start to leave the room before looking back. "I mean, were you just about to leave and go somewhere?" He asked, with a hint of sadness.

"I was actually going to go out right now so that I can find you, but since you're here on the screen, I guess there's no need to do that, so anyway, how's Leafmen training been going for you?" M.K. asked.

It's been pretty great so far, and Ronin keeps saying if it stays that way, then I might take over his place as General, and my dad would be very proud of me, if he were still alive to see me." Nod answered.

"I'm sure that he would be, Nod, and I'm sorry to change the subject so quickly, but there was something that I wanted to talk to you about, and it's kind of important." M.K. said, before taking a deep breath.

"Wait. . .you're not breaking up with me, are you?" Nod asked, now having a worried look on his face. "I know that I've been busy with training and all, but. . ." He began, but stopped when M.K. held up her hands.

"No, I don't want to us to break up, Nod, and I don't have a problem with the training, because I know it's something that really matters to you, so there's nothing that you have to worry about." M.K. replied.

"That's such a relief, so anyway, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about that's so important?" Nod asked, and he was now feeling a lot more happy and cheerful.

"A while ago, I got a call from a friend of mine," M.K. said, and then she went on to tell her boyfriend what she and Shawn had talked about over the phone earlier.

"So let me get this straight, your friend met a 'borrower' and her family while staying at his mother's childhood home, and now you want me to ask the queen if she can turn me and this 'borrower' into Stompers so that you and I, along with this 'borrower' and Shawn, can go on a double date?" Nod questioned.

"First of all, the borrower's name is Arrietty, and it's been quite a long time since me and Shawn hung out together, so it would be great for us to see each other again." M.K. explained, with excitement in her voice.

"Are you sure that the reason you want to me to go through with this is because you really think we'd all have a great time, and not because you have feelings for Mr. Shawn?" Nod asked, while sounding suspicious.

"No, of course not, and Nod, the reason why I want to see him isn't just because he's truly a very nice guy, but he had a problem with his heart, and if he didn't have surgery, then he would've been. . ." M.K. tried to finish, but didn't want to.

That's when Nod immediately understood what his girlfriend was talking about, since his father had passed away, and her mother was gone, so he knew it could've been so hard on M.K. if she lost another person that she cared about.

"I'm sorry, M.K., I didn't know, so if you say that Shawn's a good guy, and the four of us would all get along, then I believe you, but I don't think that I'll get a chance to talk to the queen, much less see her, since I'm still a Leafman in training." Nod said.

"Maybe you could go find Ronin, tell him what I told you, and ask if he can convince the queen to use her magic on you and Arritetty so that you'll be the same size as me and Shawn?" M.K. suggested, while hoping it was a good idea.

"I guess that it's worth a shot, and you don't have to be sitting in that chair while I'm gone the whole time, but I promise to come back as soon as possible." Nod answered.

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'll just keep myself busy in this house by playing with my dog, talking with my dad, and thinking of what you, me, Shawn, and Arrietty could do together on our double date." M.K. said.

"Wow, all of that does sound like a lot of fun, M.K., and let's just hope that you don't start to get even the slightest bit bored and beg for me to come back on your screen." Nod replied, obviously saying it with sarcasm.

"Shut up, now would you please go to the forest and find Ronin before it becomes dark outside, and it will be too late for the four of us to hang out together?" M.K. asked.

"It was great to see you too, babe." Nod responded, while giving a wink before walking away from the screen, and after that happened, the computer had turned itself off.

M.K.'s cheeks blushed a light shade of pink from the nickname that Nod used for her, and then she immediately put that memory aside in her head to decide on which of her own three ideas that she should do first. Obviously, it was important for M.K. to come up with activities that her and Nod, as well as Shawn and Arrietty would enjoy, so that the double date didn't end up as a disaster. She already knew Shawn loved to read, whether he was indoors or outside, but Nod would probably find it boring to have himself sitting down and reading from out of a book. So that was a no for going to a bookstore or the local library, then M.K. thought a museum would be fun, since Nod and Arrietty would get to know about lots of world history.

However, people didn't really go to a museum during the night, and it wouldn't be the right setting for a date with Nod, especially when he'll be a Stomper for the first time. Just when M.K. thought that she'll never think of a place that's perfect, the right idea had finally come to her, they could all go out to dinner at a restaurant and see a movie. The girl was positive that there must be a restaurant somewhere in town with food they would enjoy, and a movie which had a great mix of action, humor, and romance in it. With the part of deciding what to do for the date was certainly over, the only other thing that M.K. had to do now was search through the internet for the best places to go.

While Nod was flying through the forest on his hummingbird, he couldn't help but think about what Shawn and Arrietty would be like when, or if he got to meet both of them. Nod didn't believe that he had anything to worry about with Shawn, since M.K. did tell him that he was very nice, and spent his time keeping Arrietty safe while he was abroad. Speaking of Arrietty, the rookie Leafman was sure that he would get along very well with her, considering that they were both adventurous, spunky, and quite rebellious too. The only things that Nod was feeling uneasy about is becoming the same size as his girlfriend and also having the chance to experience her world for the first time in his life.

Even though he was going to be in it for only one night, like just a few hours, the thought of leaving behind his home and his friends gave a feeling that Nod didn't like at all. Although it did make him feel a little better to know that he would still have M.K.'s help to guide him through her world, and it wouldn't hurt to get assistance from Shawn too. Since he was born and grew up in M.K.'s world, it meant that it was also his world as well, and he knew just as much about it as M.K. did, so that wouldn't be a big problem. However, Nod wondered of what Ronin would think once he told him everything, and if he'll be okay with letting Nod go out into a world neither of them knew much about.

Their relationship had certainly become a lot stronger ever since their battle against Mandrake a few weeks ago, and the two of them came out of it changed for the better. Ronin had learned to be a lot less uptight and remember that Nod's still a teenager, while Nod realized it was important to make his father proud by being a Leafman soldier. Ever since Nod's father had passed away, Ronin became more like a surrogate father to Nod as the years went by, and eventually grew to love Nod as if he were his own son. Not that Ronin would ever really admit it, though, since he didn't want to come off as being mushy, and Nod would probably end up laughing and teasing him about it anyway.

If Ronin did give Nod his permission to spend time with M.K. in her world for only a few hours, there was yet another issue that had to be taken care of as soon as possible. Would the new queen of Moonhaven actually be willing to take a moment out of her time to use her magic on Nod and Arrietty to become the same size as M.K. and Shawn? She definitely had other duties to attend herself to, such as healing the parts of the forest that Mandrake had destroyed, and that always must take a lot of effort from her. While it's been just a few weeks since the battle, Moonhaven had been turning out to almost look just the way it was before it got attacked by an entire army of Boggans.

It was likely that the new queen might use her powers if there happened to be a special occasion, whether it was someone's birthday or any other kind of celebration. Nod's birthday wasn't coming for another few months, M.K's wasn't even close either and unfortunately, he didn't know when the birthdays of Shawn and Arrietty were. Celebrating the defeat of Mandrake and the Boggans wouldn't be a reason good enough, considering that Moonhaven had already thrown a big party for that purpose. Even though Nod was making a lot of great effort in Leafmen training, it still wasn't enough for him to secure any of the ranks, not even the lowest one being Private.

The ranks higher than that one in Leafmen soldiery were Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain, Major, with Ronin holding the position of the highest rank which was General. Maybe if Nod finally did get to earn one of those ranks, then it would've made sense to go right ahead and honor that achievement, but not when he didn't have a rank. Just as the boy had begun to believe that he'll never come up with a logical reason for him and M.K. to spend time together in her world, something came to his mind. He remembered M.K. telling him in their conversation from earlier today that Shawn probably would've died if he didn't have something called 'surgery' to heal his heart.

If Shawn had been able to talk to M.K. recently, then it meant that the 'surgery' he had was a success, and he could live out the rest of his life with a heart that's healthy. So basically, Shawn's health could be the perfect reason to celebrate, and of course, him and M.K. wouldn't go through on that without having Nod and Arrietty with them. With that all being thought out, Nod made a quick fist pump in the air for actually managing to go through each of those options, before picking out to be the right choice. By the time that Nod finally made it back to the city of the Jinn, he started wondering of where he could find Ronin, at least, if the General hadn't been waiting for him.

Nod didn't want to spend so much of his time in Moonhaven seaching for Ronin, and keep M.K. waiting for him to return, which would result in losing time in the process. Suddenly, an idea had popped up in Nod's mind that it's possible Ronin would now be training rookies in the ways of archery, swordsmanship, and hand to hand combat. There was no other place for those exercises than the Leafmen training base, and so Nod flew as fast as he could on his hummingbird to get over there and find Ronin. While on his way there, Nod remembered that his father used to take him to the base when he was just a kid, and Ronin did the same thing after Nod's father passed away.

Despite full well knowing that being at the base was going to give him strong emotions, even if he was there for a few minutes, Nod knew it wasn't the right time for that. Once he finally arrived at the base, Nod decided that he wasn't want to make himself look very desperate by calling out for Ronin, so he searched around for him instead. Luckily for Nod, it didn't take such a long time to find the General, who happened to be giving a lesson for a group of rookie soldiers, and it seemed like it was almost over.

". . .and when you're out there in the forest, don't ever let your guard down or have any fear control you, because that's not what Leafmen do." Ronin instructed firmly.

"Yes, sir!" The group of Leafmen trainees shouted in unison, before they all separated to do more practice on each of the skills that they were required to accomplish.

When the General turned around to see Nod standing close by, he could immediately tell from the teen's face that he had something quite important to discuss with him.

"Nod! What's wrong?" Ronin asked, as he quickly rushed over to come in front of the young man, but he soon calmed down right when Nod held up both of his hands.

"Don't worry, Ronin, there's nothing to worry about," Nod answered, before bringing his hands back down. "I wanted to talk to you, but I understand if you're busy. . ."

"No, it's alright, Nod, because I actually just finished a lesson, so anyway, you have my attention now, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Ronin asked.

"I think that you should prepare myself, Ronin, because there's a lot of stuff that I'm about to tell you, and I promise that every part of it is the truth." Nod replied.

"Well then, I only wish that I had a chair right now," Ronin said as he took a step to prepare himself for everything that Nod was going to be telling him right away.

The General calmly listened to Nod and he didn't interrupt him once, as the teenager told him about M.K.'s friend, Shawn, their history, and the 'double date' idea.

"So, Ronin, while I'm not expecting you to say 'yes', even though that would be great, I'll completely understand if you say 'no', but what you do think?" Nod asked.

When Ronin didn't respond right away, Nod knew that Ronin was only taking some time to process all of what he already heard from Nod, who stood by patiently. Nod recalled that he used to throw a lot of tantrums when he was a young kid, like the time his father didn't take him to see the fireflies because he had a bedtime. Having a bad temper definitely wasn't going to help Nod in this situation, as it would only show Ronin that he hasn't grown up or matured at all through the years. It's not like the end of the forest would be happening if Ronin said 'no', because Nod and M.K. could always hang out with Shawn and Arrietty for some other night. If M.K. didn't want to spend time with Nod after hearing about Ronin's answer, then Nod would be okay with that, and not try to push her into changing her mind.

"Okay, Nod, while I can tell you seem very serious about joining M.K. in her world for a few hours, I'd like to tell you a story before I make my decision." Ronin said.

Although he gave a nod of his head to show Ronin that he understood and wanted to hear it, Nod really felt like rolling his eyes and letting out a grown in annoyance. Nod was hoping that Ronin's story wouldn't have to take all day, and it wasn't going to include yet another speech about being responsible and looking out for others.

"When me and Tara were your age, we used to go sky diving, which I still consider an extremely dangerous trust game that could have gotten us killed." Ronin added.

Right after he heard the General say that, Nod remembered Ronin telling him this story when he was about thirteen, and it was a story that he actually enjoyed to hear. However, that same story had been told when Tara was still alive and she was the Queen of the forest, so Ronin usually didn't tell a story unless Tara convinced him. That's when Nod realized that it had to be so difficult for Ronin to talk about Tara, much less mention her name, without him becoming silent for a long period of time.

"It would go like this, we'd take our birds and one of us would fly up high into the sky, above the trees, then fall backwards for the other one to catch." Ronin explained.

Nod was almost going to interrupt Ronin and say that he didn't have to go ahead with telling the story, but then, he decided not to be rude and let Ronin tell it anyway. With that decision now being easily resolved, Nod stood through a truly epic retelling of the day that Tara and Ronin had chose to sky dive together while out in the rain. The whole activity started out as exciting and pretty successful for the two of them, that is until Ronin slipped from Tara's hold and then he took quite a hard tumble. Luckily, some trees had broken part of his fall along the way, and Tara was able to get to him before any kind of major injuries could be made for the young Leafman.

Either way, Ronin had ended up deeply bruised and battered, so they spent most of that day, as well as part of the night being huddled under a mushroom for shelter. This activity happened long before Tara had become Queen, and Nod's father hadn't seen her and Ronin all day, so naturally, he thought that they were both in trouble. A search party was sent out for them, and eventually, the soon-to-be Queen and her friend, along with their hummingbirds, were found and brought back to Moonhaven.

"First of all, Nod, I'd like to say that I appreciate you listening to me, and I'm sure you're wondering what's the point of telling you that story, so I'll tell you." Ronin said. "Even though I considered most, if not all of Tara's ideas to be risky and reckless, I did have a lot of fun, and to this day, I really have no regrets with doing any of them. There was always one thing I learned from each experience, and the lesson was that I'll never get to know what something's like unless I made myself go through with it. So anyway, I've given plenty of thought about M.K's idea of you, and the friend of M.K's long term friend, to become her size so that you can be able to explore her world. With the knowledge that M.K. will not only be at your side for the whole time, but also make sure to bring you back to Moonhaven safely, my answer happens to be yes."

It was only a few seconds that passed until Nod's eyes had widened while his mouth dropped at the same time, since obviously, he couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Wait a minute, Ronin, so you'll actually be okay with me spending time in a world that I don't really know much about, because I'd like to be sure that you are." Nod said.

"Yes, Nod, I'm okay with it, but you'll still need to get permission from the Queen herself too, or else, you won't get a chance to be with M.K. in her world." Ronin reminded.

"Well, in that case, what are we waiting for," Nod asked, before running over to his hummingbird. "It's the afternoon right now, so I doubt that she's in her bed sleeping!"

Ronin rolled his eyes at Nod's sarcasm before walking to his own hummingbird, got himself on top of it, then took off into the forest, with Nod being not so far behind him. The General quickly slowed down his hummingbird's flying, so that him and Nod were now side by side, and they could be able to have a conversation with each other.

"Listen, Nod, you should remember that the Queen has a mother, and she'll be very hesitant with letting her daughter use such strong powers twice." Ronin advised.

"Okay, then maybe you should do most of the talking with her, since you're both adults, and I'll talk with the Queen, because she's sure to understand." Nod replied.

"Understand what exactly?" Ronin asked, then tried to predict what Nod's answer was going to be for that question in his mind, but he couldn't come up with anything.

"How it feels to want to be with someone, but there's certain things keeping you apart, considering the Queen probably must have a crush on someone." Nod answered.

"So despite the fact she's practically still a kid, you think that there's a boy in Moonhaven that she likes, and that's how she'll understand your situation?" Ronin guessed.

"Yes, I hope so, but if you have a better idea in mind, then I'd love to hear it right now, because it won't be that long until we're at the Queen's home." Nod suggested.

"My idea is for you to keep a straight face, and not look or even sound desperate when you're talking, or the Queen won't bother to use her powers at all." Ronin advised.

Nod was about to deny being desperate when he realized that his heart was beating rapidly, so he took a few deep breaths in hoping that his heartbeat would slow down. When the young teenager was finished, he looked over to see Ronin giving a smirk that clearly said 'wow, I didn't even have to bother telling you how to calm yourself'. Seeing that smirk had gotten Nod a little upset, and he was going to tell Ronin to 'shut up', but he knew Ronin didn't say anything and it would've been mean-spirited. He believed that it would be better to just thank Ronin for his advice, instead of saying something that could result in their relationship becoming strained once again.

"Thanks, Ronin, and to be honest, I'm not desperate, just really nervous, because this is actually the first time that I went to the Queen for a personal favor." Nod said.

"You're not going to do it on your own, because I'll be right by your side, in case you ever have a problem with saying the appropriate words to her." Ronin responded.

"I'm sure that I won't have any sort of problem, Ronin, so you don't need to worry, but still, it's good to know that I'll have your back when we get there." Nod replied.

Ronin just grinned and gave a 'nod' of his head before he turned to see that him and Nod have finally arrived at their destination, which was the Queen's home.

"Well, we're here, so are you ready?" Ronin asked, and even though he knew that Nod probably didn't want to hear that question, he just couldn't help himself.

"Of course, I'm ready, if I can handle a Boggan invasion, then I don't think that talking to the Queen will be so hard for me, but thanks for asking." Nod answered.

The General could tell that the young Leafman had a lot of confidence just from his voice, so Ronin was hoping that Nod wouldn't lose it in the next few minutes. Both of them safely landed their hummingbirds before dismounting and hopping off to the ground, then they walked towards the leafy entrance as it opened up. Each of the twenty-four soldiers guarding the entrance stayed where they stood, with none of them saying a word as Nod and Ronin went through the entrance.

"Hey, Nod, you should just know that if the Queen decides to use her magic, then it's probably going to be a while before she does it again." Ronin mentioned.

"Yes, Ronin, I know that it can't always get to happen for every time that me and M.K. want to hang out together without being different sizes." Nod responded.

"Right, and I'm sure it's not hard for you, considering you've spent the past couple of weeks not being the same size as her when you're together." Ronin said.

"It hasn't been too hard for us, because me and M.K. understand perfectly that we come from a world that's completely different from each other's." Nod replied.

There were a few times during those weeks when Nod felt like asking M.K. to stay with him in Moonhaven, but then he'd think it would be like him betraying her. He recalled that M.K. was thrown into his world, without her consent, a world she knew nothing about growing up, and always kept asking to be sent back home. It wouldn't have been her choice to stay in a place that's not the same from what she knows, where she has no roots, far away from anything she's ever known. M.K. would be forced to abandon any plans she had for her future, any dreams she wished to accomplish, while struggling to understand a world that isn't hers.

To have someone who's already spent their entire life adjusting to the rules and cultures of one world, only to do it all over again in another just wouldn't be right. Maybe after M.K. has learned a lot more about the Jinn cultures, and her relationship with Nod was strong enough, then she would consider staying in Moonhaven. Nod's train of thoughts came to a stop when him and Ronin approached a lovely, shaded grove, which was the exact same grove that Tara used to spend her time. As the two men came closer to the opening, they could manage to hear the Queen and her mother having a conversation, which didn't sound like a happy one.

"Mom, do you think that she's proud of me?" Queen Mari asked, with sadness in her voice. "It's only been a few weeks, but I can't help but feel unsure of myself."

Her mother, who went by the name of Viola, bent down to meet her daughter's level, and she used a hand to wipe away the tears about to come down her face.

"Oh, honey, I know she is, and there was no mistake for her to choose you and I'm also sure that she would be proud of you as I am right now." Viola answered.

"Thanks, Mom, it feels good to hear that, but still, I don't want to let her down, and it's not because she was a great Queen, but my hero too." Queen Mari said.

"She was mine too." Viola replied, as she came forward and hugged her daughter tightly, while both of them did their best not to let any tears out of their eyes.

"I hope that we aren't interrupting anything, are we?" Ronin asked, as him and Nod walked closer to reveal their presence to the young Queen and her mother.

"No, sir," Viola answered, before she and her daughter both stepped away from each other to face the General. "We actually finished a talk with one another."

"Good, because I have a certain leafman recruit here who needs the Queen's help." Ronin said, while gesturing to Nod, who took a few steps past the General.

"What seems to be the problem?" Queen Mari asked, and that's when Nod saw his chance to explain M.K.'s idea of being her size so he could explore her world.

After he was finished, Nod gave the Queen and her mother a minute to take it all in, and as each second went by, he waited patiently until they spoke up again.

"Let me get this straight, you want my daughter to use her magic on you and a friend of M.K.'s friend, so you can go on a 'double date' in her world?" Viola asked.

"I know that it does sound. . .selfish, especially with all the damage that Mandrake and his Boggans caused to the forest only a few weeks ago." Nod responded.

"I don't think it's selfish, Nod, and even though it did take a while, Moonhaven looks a lot like it did before the Boggans attacked the city." Queen Mari mentioned.

"Your Majesty, Nod isn't asking for much, just for you to use your magic two times, once to change the size of both him and the friend of MK's friend, and another time to bring them back to normal." Ronin clarified.

"Even though M.K.'s expecting an answer right away, I do promise that neither me or her will be upset if you happen to say 'no', Your Majesty, so what do you think?" Nod questioned, while still remaining curious.

"Just please give me some time to discuss it with my mom, and then I'll get back to you," Queen Mari notified, before she turned around to face her mother, but looked back to face Nod and Ronin again. "I won't be that long, so you can stay here."

The two men nodded, then walked over to the grove's opening in order to give extra space and privacy for the Queen and her mother to have their conversation.

"She's going to say 'no'," Nod said, while glacing at the pair of women. "I know the Queen's going to say 'no', either that or she'll be convinced to say 'no' by her mother, and then M.K. will be disappointed that I won't get to explore her world." He added.

"Would you relax, Nod, from what I've heard, the Queen and her mother didn't even sound angry when you told them about M.K.'s idea, so it won't be the end of the forest if they say 'no', because at least they were able to give it consideration." Ronin replied.

"Okay, Ronin, you're right, but still, it's good to know that they heard me out and are taking time to think about it, and I don't know if I've said this already, but I'd like to thank you for giving me your permission, it really does mean a lot to me." Nod responded.

"Hey, young man, there's no need to get mushy with me, but your welcome, and even though I'll be completely undermining what I just said, but. . ." Ronin trailed off before coming forward to give Nod a hug, and Nod didn't bother with holding back or pushing Ronin away.

"Excuse me, but are we now the ones who are interrupting something?" Viola asked, which caused the men to let go of each other, and turn to look towards the Queen and her mother with an awkward expression, but quickly changed the looks on their faces.

"No, ladies, we actually just finished a conversation ourselves," Ronin claimed, despite believing that both of the women were thinking otherwise. "So, Your Majesty, have you made a decision on Nod's request, or do you need more time to think about it?" He asked.

"More time isn't necessary because I've come to a decision," Queen Mari announced, and upon hearing that, Ronin and Nod immediately moved themselves closer to the Queen, but not too closer to make her uncomfortable, but enough so they could hear what she says.

"I'd be happy to use my magic for you, Nod, but still, you must remember that I can't always do it every time that you and M.K. want to spend time together, because I've learned that using my magic takes a lot of energy from me, do you understand?" Queen Mari asked.

"Yes, I do, Your Majesty, and I swear that you won't regret going through with this, and now I just have to get back to M.K. and tell her that she can tell her friend to bring his friend over to her house, so I can pick her up and bring her here to you." Nod answered.

Both him and Ronin gave a respectful bow to the Queen before making their way out of the grove, and walked back to their hummingbirds, which were loyal at all times when it came to waiting for their riders, who properly mounted the hummingbirds before taking off.

"Do you need me to come with you, because if not, then I could just head back to the training base, because to be honest, there isn't anything I can think of that will help you out at this point." Ronin said, while trying his best not to sound too harsh.

"It's okay, Ronin, you've given me all the help that I needed, so thanks once again, and I'm sure that there's a lot more of recruits waiting to be trained over at the base, so I'll probably not see you until late tonight, or it depends on when you go to bed." Nod assumed.

"That's good to know, but before I leave, even though I'm positive that M.K. will keep a close eye on you for the whole time, can you at least promise me that you won't get into any trouble in M.K.'s world, since you know it's not the same as our own." Ronin responded.

"I promise," Nod said, with a reassuring smile, and upon hearing those words, Ronin flew off to the training base, while Nod kept flying towards the camera that would show himself to M.K., who he couldn't wait to tell the good news that he now had with him.

M.K. had obviously managed to keep herself busy with all the time that she had to herself after Nod talked to her earlier today, and she did so by setting out a plan of their double date with Shawn and Arrietty. First, she would introduce them and Nod to her father, because M.K. was sure that he'd want to meet and know more about them personally, but it would still be kept short, since the four teenagers plan to go out into the city. After that, they would head off to a restaurant, where all the food had cheap prices, but they would not order too much, considering that it was going to be a dinner of four, which Shawn and M.K. would clearly be paying for. Once their dinner was finished, they'd go to the movie theater that wasn't actually so far from the restaurant M.K. had chosen for them, and because it was 'Toonie Tuesday', prices for movie tickets would be much cheaper.

Nod and Arrietty had certainly never seen a movie in their life, so M.K. didn't know what kind of genre they would most enjoy, so she thought it was best for whatever movie they saw to have a mix of genres to satisfy everyone. Later, they would all go back to M.K.'s house and it's there that they'll say goodbye to each other, before Nod and Arrietty returned to their original sizes with the help of Moonhaven's new queen using her magic on both of them. M.K. didn't have to worry about what Arrietty would be wearing for tonight, since Shawn told her in their talk over the phone earlier that Arrietty had a pale yellow dress, which she did try to keep clean most of the time. It was Nod's wardrobe that M.K. was really concerned about, because when he's not wearing his Leafmen armor, you'll usually find him in a simple, scruffy white tunic, brown trousers and boots actually made out of leaves.

Before the four of them all went off to the restaurant together, they'd probably have to stop by a store for M.K. to buy proper clothing for Nod, just in case that he wouldn't be accepted into the restaurant with his usual outfit. For the next time M.K. talked with Nod from the computer again, she'd have to remind him to leave his sword behind in Moonhaven, because she knew it belonged to his late father, so she didn't want him to lose it in her world. Suddenly, M.K. heard a familiar beep noise go off about three times and she rushed to the computer to find an image of Nod still wearing his Leafmen armor, and before Nod could speak, M.K. had already started talking.

"Great, you're back! So what did the Queen say, is she going to use her magic, or did she turn you down? Hold on, I'm sure that I'll get answers for these questions if I let you talk, so how did it go with the Queen?" M.K. asked.

"It went awesome," Nod replied, with a happy tone in his voice. "With Ronin's help, I was able to convince the Queen, but she reminded me that I can't always come to her if I want to be the exact same size as you." Nod added.

"Don't worry, Nod, I completely understand, and before I forget, I've made up a plan of how our double date will go," M.K. responded, before telling her boyfriend everything that she had thought of before he appeared on her computer.

"Sounds great, M.K., so now, I just have to go back to Ronin and give him both my sword and armor, since I know that he'll keep them safe while I'm gone, and you can call Shawn and tell him to bring Arrietty over while I do that." Nod said.

"I'll get right on it." M.K. answered, before giving a smile to Nod and it wasn't until he had flown away on his hummingbird that she got up from her chair, took the note with Shawn's number off from the desk, and walked over to the phone.

To Be Continued. . .


	2. The Second Part

M.K. took a short glance at the note before dialing the number written on it, and as she waited for Shawn to pick up, M.K. couldn't help but smile at knowing that Nod would soon become the same size as her and have a chance to personally see her world. She was quite glad the Leafmen recruit understood that he'll have to wear different clothing in order to fit in, or else, their double date wouldn't go smoothly if it had random people from M.K.'s world giving weird glances at Nod because of his appearance. It's not that he didn't look good in his usual attire, it's just M.K. actually wanted to make sure that not one person could get a bad idea about Nod when they looked at him, especially since this will be the first and probably the only time that he's in her world. Any thoughts M.K. was going to have of what Nod's new outfit should be like didn't happen right when she heard a familiar voice come on the other end of the line.

"Hello, this is Shawn, may I ask who's calling?" Shawn asked curiously.

"It's me, Shawn, your old friend M.K., and I have great news," M.K. answered. "The new queen has agreed to use her powers to have Nod and Arrietty become the same size as you and I!" She added while having an enthusiastic tone of voice.

"That's great, M.K., so I talked to Arrietty about your idea, and she can't wait to meet you and Nod, but even though her parents were hesitant at first, they thought it was okay to let her go with us, since we'll be with her for the whole time." Shawn revealed.

"Yes, we will, and just so you know, we'll have to make a quick stop at a clothing store to get something new for Nod to wear, because I don't think that he'll be allowed to go in the restaurant or movie theater with his usual outfit." M.K. responded.

"Okay, but I'm sure that Arrietty will want to look around the store, so I'll make sure to remind her that she can't take too long." Shawn said.

"Sounds good, Shawn, so do you know the way to get to my father's house, or should I give you directions instead?" M.K. asked.

"Directions would be best, considering that it's been a while since I've been to the house, and I'd really appreciate it." Shawn replied.

After M.K. had given him step-by-step instructions, she felt like asking Shawn if he needed her to call a cab for him, but decided it wasn't necessary, because Shawn could just have either of his parents to drive him here, at least if they weren't busy working. Right when she hung up the phone, M.K. checked the house for a full-length mirror to take a close look at what she was wearing. M.K. thought it was better to change into a new outfit, because she wanted to leave Nod impressed when he saw her, so she went upstairs to her room and searched through her clothes until she found a dress and sweater combo, along with some flats.

Since there didn't seem to be a reason for M.K. to stay in her usual clothing, which was a purple hoodie, black skirt, boots, and black leggings, she got herself out of those clothes and into the attire that she had chosen to wear for the evening. Once again, M.K. walked back to the mirror to see how she looked, and although M.K. believed that her outfit was perfect, she wasn't sure about her hair, which was still in a ponytail, and she got rid of it to have her hair come down. As soon as M.K. smiled to herself at her new appearance, that's when she heard the doorbell ring, and M.K. didn't even have to guess who it could be, so she came out of her room, down the stairs, and towards the front door. When she opened it, M.K. saw that Shawn was wearing a unbuttoned black suit, along with a white shirt tucked in, and a pair of sneakers, but nonetheless, he looked to be ready for a night out at a fancy restaurant and opera theater.

"Shawn, you look great, so I just want to know, did your parents pick that outfit, or did you choose it on your own?" M.K. asked.

"My parents insisted that I look as formal as possible, no matter what places I was going to, but I chose the shoes myself." Shawn responded.

"Don't worry, it's not too much, but where's Arrietty, because I'd like to see how she looks in that yellow dress." M.K. mentioned.

She wasn't sure if it had been her imagination, but M.K. could've swore that she saw something moving around in Shawn's coat pocket. Just when M.K. was going to ask Shawn what was in his pocket, a tiny young woman appeared, and she looked to be M.K.'s age. Shawn brought one of his hands up to the coat pocket for this woman to stand on, and once she stood on his palm, Shawn carefully raised his hand to his left shoulder, so the young woman could have a comfortable spot to sit on.

"M.K., I would like for you to meet Arrietty, and the reason I had her in my pocket is because I was worried that my parents would panic if they saw her, but they didn't suspect anything, since Arrietty stayed still on the way here." Shawn said.

M.K. took a step forward, then lowered her head down a little to face Arrietty, but not too close so she wouldn't be scared.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Arrietty, and I'm sorry if you can't understand what I'm saying, because obviously, you're not the same size as me, but don't worry, that's going to change very soon, and you're going to have fun." M.K. promised.

Even though M.K. wished she had her father's equipment with her now, it probably would've made her look a lot more silly. However, it didn't seem like M.K. even needed to worry about that when she heard Arrietty speak up to give her response.

"You must be M.K., and Shawn's told me a lot about you, but he never said that you look prettier in person." Arrietty replied.

M.K. wasn't sure of what surprised her more: Arrietty complimenting her or being able to understand what M.K. said to her.

"Oh, thank you, and I must say that Shawn didn't tell me you'd look so pretty in that yellow dress." M.K. responded.

Shawn was quite glad to see that Arrietty and M.K. were already getting along so well, but he hoped it would be that way when he got to meet M.K's boyfriend in person, despite the face that he didn't really know that much about him.

"It's a special dress for me, because my mother actually made it, and that's why I've always been careful not to get it ruined." Arrietty revealed.

"When you see your mother again, you should tell her that she might be a success in designing clothes." M.K. suggested.

"If there happens to be a lot of Borrowers who need something to wear, then I'm sure that she'll go for it." Arrietty replied.

Shawn didn't want to interrupt the conversation that these two girls were having in front of him, but he felt that it was important for him to know where Arrietty had to be so she and M.K.'s boyfriend can become the same size as M.K. and himself.

"Excuse me, M.K., I don't mean to cut in, but perhaps you could tell me what place Arrietty's supposed to go?" Shawn asked.

"I told you already, Shawn, she'll go with the three of us to the restaurant and movie theater as planned." M.K. answered.

"Oh, I didn't mean the locations for our double date tonight, I meant where does she go to become our size?" Shawn said.

That's when M.K. started to wonder if Nod was flying back to the camera right now, and since she didn't want to keep him waiting for too long, she thought it was best to show, or better yet, bring Arrietty to the spot where Nod would pick her up.

"If you would please follow me, I'll get you to where Arrietty's supposed to be." M.K. requested.

With Arrietty still sitting on his shoulder, Shawn came behind M.K. as they walked out of her father's house. The two went a little further into the forest before M.K. stopped at a tree which had a camera attached to it. M.K. remembered she had gone to this same tree a few weeks ago because Nod needed her help in getting him out of a certain slug's mouth, but M.K didn't think that wearing the helmet was necessary this time, since Nod would easily catch sight of her.

"So I'm guessing what we do now is wait for your boyfriend to arrive at this particular spot?" Shawn asked.

"Yes, and he's flying a hummingbird, so I'm sure that he'll be here any minute now." M.K. answered.

"Wait, your boyfriend is flying a hummingbird? How did he even manage to find one?" Arrietty inquired.

"I don't really know, but I do know is that hummingbirds have always been Moonhaven's transportation." M.K. replied.

"Do you think that your boyfriend wouldn't mind if me and my parents stayed in Moonhaven for a while?" Arrietty asked.

"You're not the size of 'Stompers', so I don't think it would be a problem, and by the way, his name is Nod." M.K. responded.

"M.K., what are 'Stompers', like are they big, scary looking bugs that can be very loud when they walk?" Arrietty guessed.

"No, they're people who are always stomping on things, and Nod described them as big, dumb, and slow." M.K. explained.

"Okay, now I understand, so Stompers are just like you and Shawn, only they're not dumb and slow, right?" Arrietty asked.

"It depends on who the person is, because my father used to spend years trying to find Moonhaven himself, but he never could, because the people living there have always managed to throw him off his trail, but that never stopped him from searching." M.K. explained.

"Is your father still a threat to the people of Moonhaven or have they changed their mind about him?" Arrietty inquired.

"He's not a threat anymore, and we still keep in contact with them while we do research of their world." M.K. replied.

Arrietty felt happy to hear about this information, and was glad that M.K. didn't seem to mind being asked so many questions. Just when she was going to ask M.K. another question, Arrietty thought that she heard the sound of a hummingbird chirping. Her suspicions were correct when a hummingbird along with a familiar teenage boy riding it, flew to appear in front of them.

"Hello, my name is Arrietty, and you must be Nod, it's nice to finally meet you, and M.K.'s told me a lot about you." Arrietty said.

"Well, I hope that it was a lot of good things, so you must be the 'borrower' that she told me about earlier?" Nod assumed.

"Yes, that's right, and I guess you probably know the reason why me and my family were given that name?" Arrietty inquired.

"I do, borrowers are tiny people who secretly live in the walls and floors of a house, while borrowing items from the humans who live inside, in order to make a life for themselves and to survive, so did I or did I not get it right with the reason?" Nod asked.

"Wow, you got it right, and you were great, but anyway, M.K. told me that you're going to take me to see a queen?" Arrietty questioned.

"Yeah, because in case you didn't know, the queen has powers that can get you to be the same size as M.K. and your friend." Nod replied.

"Really, that sounds so amazing, and all I have to do is hop on your hummingbird?" Arrietty asked, then she saw Nod bring out a hand for her.

"It's better to just take my hand instead." Nod answered, and he watched Arrietty stand up on Shawn's shoulder before she grasped his hand in hers.

Only a few seconds had gone by until Arrietty had managed to successfully climb aboard Nod's hummingbird, and he turned his head around to look back.

"Awesome, you're on, now if you don't want to fall off, then you'll have to put your arms around me and hang on tight." Nod instructed.

Unfortunately, Nod knew that there was a problem when he didn't feel Arrietty's arms instantly make their way around his white tunic.

"What's wrong, Arrietty, are you scared of taking a ride on a hummingbird, or do you not trust me with riding one?" Nod guessed.

"No, it's not either of those things, I'm just worried if M.K.'s okay with having another girl who's this close to you." Arrietty responded.

"Don't worry, me and M.K. may have been dating for a few weeks, but she does completely trust me with being close to girls." Nod claimed.

"So are you close to girls all the time, or just when they want you to take them somewhere in particular?" Arrietty asked, suddenly curious.

"Arrietty, we don't really have time to go on with this conversation, because we shouldn't keep the queen waiting long." Nod reminded.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Arrietty said, then she quickly wrapped her arms around Nod's clothed abdomen. "So we'll talk about this for another time?"

"Yeah, sure." Nod replied, and just before they took off, he flew to come in front of M.K.'s face, but not too close to have her freaked out.

Due to their sizes, the couple couldn't be able to communicate without M.K. wearing her father's helmet, so Nod had given a wave to her. When M.K. saw that Arrietty was now on her boyfriend's hummingbird, she nodded her head, along with a thumbs up at the same time. Nod waved a hand again before having his hummingbird take wing from his girlfriend to go deeper into the forest and toward Moonhaven. Arrietty couldn't help but stare in awe of all the beautiful trees they passed by, but there's been a lot of times that she's done this before.

Every time that Arrietty and her family lived under a new house, she always loved to go outside, where she could admire the scenery around her. It wouldn't get to be the same this time, because Nod was going at a very fast pace, so it was hard for Arrietty to enjoy looking at the trees. Since Arrietty didn't want to get bored during the flight, and that was known to happen quite easily, she thought it would be nice to pass the time by having a conversation with Nod, but not have their topic be about his relationship with M.K.

"Hey, Nod, so what's the queen like," Arrietty asked. "Is she very strict and tough, or does she happen to be kind to everybody?"

"Believe it or not, Arrietty, but the queen is actually your age, or around your age, and how old are you exactly?" Nod inquired.

"I'm fourteen years old, but wait a minute, the queen's really that young, I thought she would be so much older." Arrietty replied.

"I was told that she saved the previous queen from an attack by Boggans, so I think that's how she was chosen." Nod revealed.

"She must have had a lot of courage to risk her life, but what are Boggans, because they already sound creepy." Arrietty said.

"They're a race of insect-like creatures, but after a battle with our army of Leafmen, we manged to defeat them." Nod responded.

Nod knew right off the bat of what question Arrietty would ask him next, so he held up a hand before she could even say a word.

"The Leafmen are a large group of soldiers dedicated to protecting the city of Moonhaven, along with its queen and the forest." Nod explained.

"Let me guess, Moonhaven is probably a beautiful, lush, green place deep in this forest, hidden by a cascading waterfall." Arrietty predicted.

"Well done, Arrietty, you've made a pretty accurate guess of what Moonhaven looks like, and we're getting close right now." Nod reminded.

Arrietty moved her head to the right to see for herself, and she let a gasp come out of her mouth when she saw the sight ahead of them. It was a rarefied spring that was located at the head of a waterfall that fed the entire forest, and this spring had been masterfully hidden by trees that grew on the tops of rock pinnacles that were arranged like protective sentinels.

"Wow, " Arrietty whispered, as she was completely awestruck of what she was seeing. "I've never seen anything so beautiful."

"Oh, trust me, you ain't seen nothing yet." Nod replied, as he landed his hummingbird near the entrance to the queen's sanctuary.

After he dismounted to come on the ground, Nod lent out a hand for Arrietty to take so she could get off the hummingbird safely.

"Thank you," Arrietty said, being truly grateful to have Nod's assistance, and they headed towards the leafy entryway side by side.

"So this is what the Leafmen look like," Arrietty added, while she looked at the soldiers who were on the left and right.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, huh?" Nod asked, and Arrietty nodded her head as the entrance opened up for them to go through.

"Just to let you know, we're not going to take long, you'll be introduced and the queen will use her powers." Nod informed.

"Don't worry, Nod, I understand," Arrietty responded. "We wouldn't want to keep M.K. and Shawn waiting too long for us."

A grin came on Nod's face from knowing that Arrietty wasn't upset of not being able to stay in Moonhaven for a little longer.

"If you want, maybe you and your family can visit someday, so you can be shown every part of the city." Nod offered.

"That would be great, but I don't think me and my parents could manage to fit on a hummingbird all at once." Arrietty said.

"No problem, I can just ask a few friends to give each of your parents a ride, and I'm sure they'll enjoy it." Nod replied.

"Oh, that's good, so that way, my family and I don't have to worry about any of us getting left behind." Arrietty said.

"Exactly." Nod agreed, as they finally reached the grove, and the more close that him and Arrietty got to it, the more they could tell that not only the queen, but also her mother were expecting them, especially since they were facing the teenagers with a smile.

"So you must be the friend of M.K.'s friend that we've heard about," Queen Mari guessed. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Arrietty said, as she politely bowed. "My name is Arrietty and M.K.'s friend's name is Shawn."

"Good to know, and I'm Queen Mari, but you can call me just 'Mari', and this is my mother, Viola." Queen Mari introduced.

"As you both know already, my daughter will use her magic so you'll be the same size as your friends." Viola reminded.

"When will that happen, like will we change sizes instantly or when we're far away from Moonhaven?" Nod asked.

"Just as the power takes effect, you'll literally be flown to an area that's a great distance from the city." Viola assured.

"Great, so we won't be able to step on Moonhaven with our big, fat feet." Nod replied sarcastically before laughing.

Nod soon put an end to his laughter when he realized that none of the women around him didn't find his joke so funny.

"Anyway, I suggest the two of you close your eyes first before my daughter works her magic on you." Viola requested.

The two teenagers didn't let any more time go by and so they did precisely what the queen's mother asked of them. Nothing seemed to be happening at first until Arrietty and Nod suddenly felt their feet being lifted from off the ground. Even though Nod and Arrietty had a desire to open their eyes and see if they were truly up in the air, they chose not to do that. It wasn't like either of them were afraid of heights, they just thought it was better to wait until their transformation occurred. Arrietty and Nod weren't sure how much time had passed until they made contact with the ground and everything went black.

Just a couple of seconds passed before Nod and Arrietty opened their eyes, but not without blinking them a few times. They could hear the sound of a familiar bird that they rode on earlier as they got up from the dirt to stand on their two feet. All of a sudden, Arietty's eyes widened when she realized that she didn't wake up in the grass, but she woke up above it. If only her parents could see her now, Arrietty was tall enough to be able to touch the bark of any tree here in this forest. Arrietty remembered that her and Nod were supposed to meet up with Shawn and M.K. so they could start their double date.

"Hey, Nod, where are you?" Arrietty asked, as she looked around to find where he was, and luckily, it didn't take her so long.

"I'm over here, Arrietty, and I think our friends are this way, follow me!" Nod requested, and Arrietty quickly ran to catch up with him.

"So, Nod, how does it feel to be M.K's size?" Arrietty inquired, since she didn't want their walk to be filled with awkward silence.

"I'll make sure to let you know after I get to hug my girlfriend for the first time in weeks!" Nod shouted with glee in his voice.

Hearing Nod say that caused Arrietty to wonder what it would be like for her to wrap her arms around Shawn for the first time ever. Obviously, it would be like hugging her parents, but the difference was Arrietty hugged them many times, and Shawn was a close friend. She'll probably want to have as many hugs as possible, especially because Arrietty would stay this size for only a few hours. Arrietty just hoped that Shawn would be okay with that, considering this might not only be the first time, but also the last time. Soon enough, her and Nod could see their companions in the distance, and Arrietty was about to call out for them when Nod stopped her.

"Hey, Arrietty, what do you say that we have some fun by hiding behind a tree nearby and surprising them?" Nod suggested.

At first, the girl thought it was a good idea, but then she remembered the heart condition Shawn told her about in the past. Even though the surgery he had was a success, Arrietty still didn't want to risk causing any problems for Shawn's health.

"I'm sorry, Nod, but I don't want to scare them, and I'm sure they'll be surprised when they see us." Arrietty answered.

"Okay, then how about we whistle instead, so we'll be able to get their attention all the way from here." Nod recommended.

"Perhaps you could be the one to do that, since I've tried whistling before, and I'm not so good at it." Arrietty replied.

Nod gave a 'nod' of his head before he put two fingers in his mouth and made the loudest whistle that he could make. He and Arrietty saw M.K. and Shawn turn their heads to see where that sound came from, before they moved around. Shawn and M.K. stopped moving at the same time when he caught sight of his best friend and she caught sight of her boyfriend. M.K. and Shawn walked a little closer and squinted their eyes to be sure that what they were seeing was actually real. The two of them had their eyes widen, then their jaws drop, before they both started to run toward Arrietty and Nod.

"Oh my goodness, I can't believe it," M.K. said, while wrapping her arms around Nod, who did the same, embracing her.

Neither of them were sure of how long they stayed that way, but they assumed it wasn't any different between Shawn and Arrietty. However, it couldn't be like this forever, since M.K. did make plans for the four of them to all go out on a date tonight.

"Guys, we should get back to the house, so I can call for a taxi to pick us up and take us to the restaurant." M.K. suggested.

"Yes, I agree," Shawn replied, as he pulled away from his hug with Arrietty. "It's a good thing the house isn't so far away."

They all walked back to M.K.'s house while being side by side, and of course, their stroll wasn't filled with awkward silence.

"So, Arrietty, was Nod careful with getting you to Moonhaven, and how was it meeting the queen?" M.K. asked curiously.

"Yes, the ride on his hummingbird was amazing, and both the queen and her mother were very nice." Arrietty answered.

"Was transforming into our size easy and comfortable for you, as in it wasn't painful or anything like that?" Shawn inquired.

"No, after the queen used her magic, we closed our eyes before we were carried away to the forest here." Arrietty replied.

"Shawn, you don't have to worry because all that happened is we only blacked out for a moment before waking up." Nod said.

"Well, that's good to know," Shawn responded, while being unsure of whether to be happy from hearing what Nod just told him.

"Don't worry, Shawn, it was exactly like that for me when I transformed for the first time, and went back to my normal size." M.K. mentioned.

"Maybe in the future, Nod could take me to the queen, so I can get to see Moonhaven for myself." Shawn suggested.

"I should come with you, because I've seen a lot of cool things, which means I can show you around too." M.K. offered.

"Sure, I'd like that." Shawn replied, before he fell silent and each of them spent the remainder of the walk listening to the sounds of nature.

It was a truly calm and soothing experience to hear nothing but the birds chirping, and the grass while they took steps over it with their shoes. However, it came to a end when Arrietty let a gasp come out of her mouth, then she started to point a finger while jumping up and down.

"Look, guys, there's the house," Arrietty said, before turning to face M.K. "Don't you have a dad, because I'd like to meet him." She added.

M.K. knew that her father wouldn't let them leave without getting to meet Nod, Shawn, and Arrietty for the first time. She thought it was at least fair for her boyfriend and her friends to to meet her father before they left for their date.

"I'm sure that my dad wants to meet all of you, but it can't take long, because we have plans for tonight." M.K. reminded.

Arrietty nodded her head in agreement as the four teenagers came out of the forest and went to the front door of M.K.'s house. Shawn opened up the door, then he and Nod let both of the girls go inside the house first before walking in themselves.

"Hey, dad, are you here?" M.K. asked in a voice that wasn't too loud. "I have some friends that I want you to meet."

Only less than ten seconds passed before they all heard the sound of footsteps that seemed to be going down the stairs.

"M.K., there you are," Bomba said, just as he appeared. "I've been wondering where you were, so who are your friends?"

"Dad, this is Nod, the boy that I met when I was in Moonhaven, and as you can see, he's became a lot bigger." M.K. replied.

"Wait a minute. . .you mean, Nod, the same boy you talk to on the computer, how is this even possible?" Bomba inquired.

"The queen of Moonhaven used her powers to change not only Nod's size, but Arrietty's size as well." M.K, responded.

"I guess that this is Arrietty?" Bomba asked, as he turned away from his daughter to face the other girl in the small group.

"You would be right, sir," Arrietty responded, while bringing a hand out for Bomba, which he took with his hand and shook it.

"I wish that I could say M.K.'s told me a lot about you, but I'd be lying." Bomba said, as he moved his head to look at M.K. again.

"Shawn met Arrietty when she and her family were living under the house that his mother used to visit when she was a child." M.K. explained.

Bomba gave a smile to his daughter for giving him that vital piece of information, then he brought a hand out to shake Shawn's hand.

"Dad, the four of us are all going out on a date, which is why I need to call for a cab to come pick us up." M.K. mentioned.

"Okay," Bomba replied, as he quickly stepped aside to let her daughter go past him to use the phone on the wall.

"So, what do you guys have planned for tonight?" Bomba asked, after he turned to face Nod, Shawn, and Arrietty.

"It's nothing too complicated, we'll be going to a restaurant for dinner, and then we'll see a movie." Shawn explained.

"That sounds like fun, but do you know what the movie and restaurant are, or has M.K. not told you yet?" Bomba inquired.

"M.K. hasn't told us yet, but as soon as she's done with her 'phone call', one of us will ask her." Nod answered.

Nod only hoped that whatever restaurant they went to, it would have his favorite food, which was honey brittle. When he was a kid, Nod would eat it for every meal if Ronin would let him, and it was one of the sweets Ronin would use to lure Nod out of the forest and back into Moonhaven, but no matter how hard Ronin tried, he could never find a hiding place good enough to keep Nod from finding it. Even if the restaurant didn't have honey brittle in their menu, then Nod wouldn't be too disappointed about that. He was already happy that he had the chance to spend time with his girlfriend in her world for the very first time.

Nod also didn't mind that they would be joined by both M.K.'s longtime friend, Shawn and his best friend, Arrietty. It felt nice to not only meet, but get to know someone of his kind, as in a person who didn't grow up in Moonhaven like him. All of these thoughts in Nod's head went away when he noticed that M.K. was off the phone and walking back to them.

"Great news, guys! The cab driver is willing to drive all of us to the restaurant, then to the movie theater, and back here!" M.K. announced.

"That's great, M.K., so when is he going to arrive?" Nod asked, as he was genuinely interested to know when their transportation would come.

"He just needs to have a full tank of gas, and then he'll get here, so I think he should only take about five to ten minutes." M.K. explained.

"So, M.K., you wouldn't mind telling the rest of us which restaurant we'll be going to and what movie we're going to see?" Nod asked.

"I haven't decided on the movie because I'd like for that to be a choice made by the four of us when we're at the theater." M.K. answered.

"Oh, that's a good idea, so what about the restaurant, did you choose it on your own, or will we all make the decision?" Nod inquired.

"I hope you don't mind, but I want to keep that a secret, but you can ask me for hints of what food they'll have there." M.K. responded.

Before Nod could even have a chance to reply, he saw M.K.'s father raise a hand, presumably because he wanted to say something.

"Perhaps all of you would be more comfortable sitting down somewhere until the cab driver comes?" Bomba suggested.

"Yes, it would be a lot better than having this conversation while standing near the front door." Nod replied in agreement.

The four teenagers followed Bomba as he led them to the living room, while Shawn and Arrietty took this as a chance to look around. A Moroccan-style chandelier was in the foyer, and there were also built-in bookshelves that echoed the odd archways in the hall. Arrietty wanted to ask M.K.'s father about a room that was filled with a lot of things, but she preferred to wait until she was sitting down before asking him. Bomba took a seat on a chair, while everyone else sat down on the couch, which luckily had enough space for all of them.

"Excuse me, sir," Arrietty began, but once again, Bomba held up a hand to stop the girl from saying anything else.

"Please, Arrietty, call me Bomba, because 'sir' is a little too formal, and this goes for all of M.K.'s friends." Bomba said.

"Okay. . .Bomba, what I wanted to ask you is what was that room back there which has so much stuff." Arrietty replied.

"It's my workroom, and it has skeletons, bug collections, hornet's nests, fossils, old microscopes, and astrological charting equipment." Bomba explained.

"Whoa, so Bomba, what about the astrological charting equipment, what do you use that for?" Arrietty asked curiously.

"So I can find all the stars and constellations in the sky at night, have you ever done stargazing?" Bomba inquired.

"I can't say that I have, but don't you have to sit on a high place to do that, such as a rooftop?" Arrietty asked.

Just as Bomba was about to give his reply, Nod raised his hand, since he wanted to add something to the conversation.

"Yes, and I know because M.K. and I have gone stargazing in the past." Nod said, before turning to face his girlfriend.

"That's right, even though we weren't the same size back then, but it was still a lot of fun for us to do that." M.K. agreed.

Arrietty's face instantly lit up at the thought of gazing at all the stars in the sky with Shawn on the roof of his house.

"Hey, Shawn, can we go stargazing sometime, and when I say 'we', I mean just the two of us." Arrietty requested.

"Of course, Arrietty, but it would have to be on another night, since we won't have much time tonight." Shawn responded.

"I understand, Shawn, and it doesn't really matter to me if I'm your size or not when we do stargazing." Arrietty said.

"I never got to do stargazing in the past because of my heart, so it will be the first time for both of us." Shawn replied.

"Great, and perhaps we should do it when your parents are out of town, or if they're just working late." Arrietty recommended.

"That's a good idea, since they wouldn't have to worry, and we'd be very careful with getting on the roof." Shawn agreed.

"Don't worry, guys, you're going to love it," M.K. said. "It's such a wonderful and relaxing experience to see so many stars."

Before anyone could respond, they all heard the sound of a car honking, and it wasn't hard to know what kind of car it was.

"That must be the taxi, which means it's now time for us to go." M.K. declared as she got up from where she had been sitting.

"It was nice to meet all of you." Bomba said, taking a chance to shake Nod's hand, then did the same with Shawn and Arrietty.

Bomba turned around to face his daughter, since there was a question that he wanted to ask her before she left the house.

"Before you go, M.K., I'd like to know if you have enough money to pay for everyone or if Shawn will be pitching in." Bomba inquired.

"Me and Shawn will pay together, but since it's 'Toonie Tuesday', we won't have to pay much for the movie tickets." M.K. explained.

"If you have any problems, don't be afraid to call me, you can just tell me where you are, and I'll be there to help." Bomba replied.

"Dad, that's good to know, but I promise there won't be any problems, so if I don't call you, consider that a good thing." M.K. said.

"In that case, I won't have to worry about you guys so much, but still, please make sure to be extra careful." Bomba responded.

M.K. nodded her head then gave her father a hug, and it lasted for a few seconds before she walked with her friends to the front door. The four teenagers all went down the path made of cobblestones to the taxi, which Nod and Shawn let the girls get inside first.

"Long time, no see, huh, kid?" The taxi driver asked while facing M.K., who brought her head up after she buckled up her seat belt.

"I wouldn't consider a few weeks to be a long time, but yes, it's been a while." M.K. answered, as she grinned at the taxi driver.

"Wait a minute, M.K., you know this guy?" Nod asked, as he became more curious to know exactly how his girlfriend knew this man.

"He's the same taxi driver that drove me to my father's house before I had that whole adventure in Moonhaven." M.K. answered.

"Oh, well, then it's nice to meet you, Mr. . . ." Nod trailed off, since he didn't know the guy's name, but was hoping he would.

"Flannigan, but you can call me Larry, and it goes for all of you, but before I get this car going, what's your names?" Larry inquired.

"This is Nod, my boyfriend," M.K. said, while pointing to him, and she did the same thing while introducing Shawn and Arrietty.

"All of you guys are going out for dinner and a movie, so what's the first place that I'll be driving you to?" Larry asked curiously.

Since M.K. wanted to the keep the restaurant a surprise, she leaned forward to Larry so that she could whisper the name to him.

"Okay, now I'd like for everyone to have their seatbelt buckled until I've brought you to the restaurant, understood?" Larry asked.

Nod and M.K, as well as Arrietty and Shawn checked if their seat belt had been buckled before they all gave a nod of their head. Larry started up the taxi and it wasn't until a minute had passed when he spoke up again, since he wanted to ask M.K. a question.

"So, M.K., what is this 'Moonhaven' that you mentioned earlier, like is it an ancient city or a legendary treasure?" Larry inquired.

M.K. decided to tell a fib, since she didn't think Larry would actually believe that Moonhaven was a real city full of little people.

"Moonhaven's not anything real, Larry , it's just this place that was only in my dreams when I was sleeping." M.K responded.

"Even though you were dreaming, what about this adventure you had, I mean did you get to have a lot of fun in it?" Larry asked.

"Absolutely, but I'll explain Moonhaven first, it's a kingdom located in a forest which is protected by a queen who has the power to control many parts of trees, such as the roots and branches, with her actions and mind. Moonhaven's also watched over by a race of human-like beings called Leafmen, and that name comes from them wearing armor made of leafs, and they protect the kingdom from a race of evil insect-like creatures called Boggans. The Leafmen ride hummingbirds as a way of transportation to get to any place they want, so anyway, I'll get to the adventure, the queen was due to choose her successor; a leaf pod that would bloom in Moonhaven on the day of both the Summer Solstice and Full Moon. This is an event that occured every one hundred years, and not long after the queen chose an heir to the throne, the Boggans launched an attack, and although her bodyguards did their best to protect her, they were soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of Boggans.

Sadly, the queen died from getting shot with an arrow, but before that happened, she gave me the pod and then told me to take it to a glowworm named Nim Galuu, so with a few of the Leafmen by my side, we found Nim Galuu, who brought us all to a scroll library. When the queen gave the pod to me, I had been shrunk down to a smaller size, and when I was at the scroll library, I found a message that could get me back to my normal size, but it wasn't long before the pod was taken by the Boggans' leader, whose name was Mandrake. His plan was to have the pod bloom in darkness in order to destroy the forest, so me and the Leafmen had to get the pod back, but it was now in Boggan territory, which meant we needed disguises so all of us could get in and get the pod without being discovered. One of the Leafmen made a distraction for the Boggans while the rest of us found the pod and he bravely sacrificed himself to ensure our escape, and before the full moon could sprout the pod at Moonhaven, Mandrake's bats blocked the light, which caused the pod to begin sprouting in darkness.

The Leafmen set out to fight the Boggans, while I hurried to get assistance from. . .someone, who managed to lure the bats away from the moonlight, which took over the pod and stopped it from blooming in darkness, so the Boggans were defeated and Mandrake was sucked and sealed into a nearby tree. A young girl who had saved the queen's life in the past was chosen to become the new queen and I was returned to my original size."

M.K. took a single deep breath after all of that talking, and she waited for Larry to give her any sort of response to what she just told him.

"I would clap my hands for you, but I need to keep them on the steering wheel, but that whole adventure sounded awesome!" Larry said.

"I'm glad you liked it, and just so you know, I've had these dreams a few weeks ago, but it feels like they're still fresh in my mind." M.K. replied.

"That's so cool, and I wish that I could be able to remember the dreams I've had in the past month, or even in the past year." Larry responded.

M.K. was about to speak again but stopped when she realized that Nod's mouth was close to her ear, since he wanted to tell her something.

"You did so awesome at describing our adventure in Moonhaven, but why did you tell him it was in your dreams?" Nod asked.

"If I told Larry that Moonhaven existed, then he would want proof, and we'd have to take him to the forest. . ." M.K. answered.

"Oh, now I get it, because if he believed it was real, then it would probably get in the way of our plans for tonight." Nod said.

"Yes, and it would be impossible to take him to Moonhaven, since Larry's not the same size as you and Arrietty were earlier." M.K. explained.

All of a sudden, Nod leaned closer to M.K.'s face, but she pulled away, and she just had to ask him what he was trying to do.

"Hold on a second, were you just about to kiss me, because need I remind you, we're not exactly in private." M.K. reminded.

"I know, but I was thinking that perhaps you should give me some kind of reward for being so smart just now." Nod requested.

"How about this, Nod, if you're able to make it through the night without embarrassing any of us, then I'll kiss you." M.K. said.

Nod opened his mouth and was prepared to argue with his girlfriend but didn't talk when he felt M.K. put a finger to his lips.

"Good things come to those who wait, so if you have patience, then you'll be rewarded." M.K. declared, before turning her head.

Although he was disappointed for getting a kiss right now, Nod thought getting a kiss later was much better having no kiss at all.

"Good news, guys, I've almost made it to your destination!" Larry declared, as the teenagers took this as a chance to look out the window.

M.K. and Shawn had to admit New York looked pretty at nighttime, Arrietty and Nod were captivated by the beauty of the city. From the multiple signs and billboards to the colorful advertisements for movies and plays they've never even heard of before. The Leafmen soldier in training and the Borrower have never seen so many people walk in one area all at the same time.

"Hey, M.K., do you know what this place is?" Arrietty asked, while still keeping her eyes on the things outside the window.

"It's Times Square, and it has nicknames such as 'The Crossroads of the World', 'The Center of the Universe' and 'The Great White Way'. Times Square is one of the world's busiest pedestrian intersections and it's the world's most visited tourist attraction." M.K. explained.

"Whoa, and how do you know so much about it?" Nod inquired, while being amazed of all the information he heard from his girlfriend.

"From a simple thing called Wikipedia, which you can find on the internet, and I'll explain more about it on another day." M.K. replied.

"I'd like that, so anyway, what other things do you know about this 'Times Square'?" Nod asked, while being genuinely interested.

"It's a major center of the world's industry for entertainment, such as movies, television shows, and Broadway plays, while it's also the site of the annual ball drop on New Year's Eve, a tradition which began on the year of 1907 and still continues today, attracting thousands of people to the Square for every New Year's."

Before M.K. could tell any more facts about Times Square, she and everybody else were jolted from hearing a car honk very loud.

"Sorry about that, guys, but I thought it would've been rude of me to say something and interrupt your conversation." Larry said.

"So it was a lot better to scare all of us practically half to death," M.K. responded sarcastically. "What did you want to tell us?"

"Remember that restaurant you told me to drive to. . ." Larry mentioned, before trailing off and taking one hand off the steering wheel.

Here it is," Larry added, while using his hand to make a gesture for his four young passengers to look out the car window again.

They turned their heads to see, but none of them could really get a good look just by sitting in the car, so one by one, they all got out. What was now before their very eyes a line of food trucks and vendors, which happened to be at least as long as a single city block.

"Hold on," Nod said, while turning to face M.K. "Didn't you say that we were going to a restaurant, because this doesn't look like one to me."

"What's different about this restaurant is you don't need to wait so long for your food to come, you can get it right away." M.K. replied.

"Is there going to be any tables with chairs for us to sit down on, or will we have to eat our food while standing up?" Nod asked.

Instead of responding to Nod right away, M.K. reached into one of the pockets of her sweater jacket and took out a pamphlet.

"I printed this out while on the computer back at home, it's a pamphlet with a guide which not only tells you what food is presented from every food truck and vendor, but it also has a map of where you can find each of them, so obviously, there should be a section with tables and chairs." M.K. explained.

The four of them were about to walk further toward the food trucks and vendors when M.K. stopped and headed back to the taxi.

"Hey, Larry, aren't you going to get some food for yourself, because it could be a while until we get back." M.K. reminded.

"Nope, I'll just stay in the car, because you never know if someone might come by and try to steal it." Larry responded.

"Okay, but should I get something for you, it's the least that I can do to show we appreciate you driving us." M.K. suggested.

Larry opened up the glove compartment and pulled out a piece of paper, along with a pen, which he used to write something down.

"I want you to get a sandwich for me," Larry said, before giving the piece of paper to M.K. "The things I want in it are on the paper."

M.K. took a glimpse at the paper and instantly, her eyes widened from all the food and condiments Larry wanted in his sandwich.

"Are you sure that you want your sandwich to have all of this stuff, because it could probably give you a stomachache." M.K. replied.

"Yes, I'm willing to take the risk, and besides, I haven't had anything to eat since I got in this taxi to drive to your house." Larry mentioned.

"Well, in that case, I'll make sure to get your sandwich until after me and my friends have eaten something first." M.K. informed.

"That's a good idea, M.K., so that way, my sandwich won't be too cold by the time that you've brought it to me." Larry agreed.

M.K. put Larry's piece of paper into one of her sweater pockets before she walked back to meet up with her boyfriend and friends.

"Hey, guys, just so you know, after we eat, I'm going to get a sandwich for Larry so that he doesn't starve, is that okay?" M.K asked.

She smiled as Nod, Shawn, and Arrietty gave a nod of their head, and they all walked to the food trucks and vendors.

To Be Continued. . .


	3. The Third & Final Part

All of a sudden, M.K. walked ahead of the others to stand in front of them, because she wanted to say something important.

"So, guys, I think it's best for all of us to stay in a group, so that way, we don't lose each other, and since none of us have been to this place before, we can simply use the pamphlet to help us out with going to a specific area." M.K. advised, while unfolding the pamphlet with both of her hands.

She was about to keep on talking when Arrietty raised her hand, meaning she had something important to say as well.

"M.K., is there a bathroom nearby, because I really need to use one." Arrietty said, while crossing her knees together.

The redhead's eyes widened from what she just heard before she looked down at the pamphlet's map for the bathroom's location.

"Yes, there's a bathroom, and luckily, it's not so far off from where we're standing right now, so please follow me!" M.K. declared.

With both of the boys and Arrietty following her, and the map's help, M.K. successfully led all of them to where the bathrooms were.

"We should all use the bathroom, so that we don't need to take a break from checking out the food trucks and vendors." M.K. suggested.

Everyone else nodded before Arrietty followed M.K. into the women's bathroom, while Nod went behind Shawn in the men's bathroom. Obviously, the boys were the first to come out, and before they did, Shawn helped Nod with using the faucet to wash his hands. Nod decided to strike up a conversation with Shawn, since he thought it would be awkward to stay quiet before the girls came out.

"Hey, Shawn, I know it's probably none of my business, but are you and Arrietty dating, or are you two just friends?" Nod asked.

"Arrietty and I are just friends, and I'm still grateful to have met her, because if it wasn't for Arrietty's courage, then I wouldn't have gone through with that operation for my heart, even though it needed to be done, so what about you and M.K., how long have you guy's been dating?" Shawn inquired.

"For a couple of weeks after what happened in Moonhaven, and by the way, everything she said in the taxi was true." Nod answered.

"Oh, I believe her, and she did tell me all of that over the phone already, but it was still nice to hear it a second time." Shawn replied.

"You should come visit Moonhaven sometime, because it's a pretty place, and I'm sure that you'd enjoy it there." Nod recommended.

"I'd like that, but obviously, it has to happen on another night, and I'd like to take Arrietty so she can see more." Shawn responded.

"How about we shake on it, so that way, not only will we have made an agreement, but it will be an official one." Nod suggested.

Shawn gave a nod of his head before bringing a hand out for Nod to shake, and right after they shook hands, the girls came out.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting so long, but when nature calls, a girl can't just ignore the feeling." M.K. said, while fixing her hair.

M.K.'s eyes widened, as she believed that she gave too much information, but relaxed when she saw both of the boys smiling.

"You don't have to apologize, M.K., and it was a good idea for us to go to the bathroom so we don't have to later." Shawn replied.

"Thanks, Shawn, but sadly, we can't stay here for too long, because I still planned for us to see a movie tonight." M.K. reminded.

"All of us must have a favorite food in particular, so we should be able to find a food truck or vendor that has them." Nod suggested.

M.K. agreed with her boyfriend, and she thought the best way to do that was for each of them to tell what food they loved the most.

"I enjoy lots of food that's healthy, like if it's low in carbs and fat, so what kind of food do you guys prefer to have?" M.K. inquired.

"Honey brittle, and anything else that has seeds, nuts, fruits, and berries, but that's only what Moonhaven has for the winter." Nod answered.

"I grew up eating mainly Chinese food, such as rice, noodles, and vegetables, along with sauces and seasonings too." Shawn added.

"I don't think that I have a favorite food, but I eat soup and bread a lot, so I wouldn't mind a meal that includes those two." Arrietty said.

"We should find a truck or vendor that have the food M.K. and Arrietty like, because the girls should get what they want first." Nod suggested.

"Well, Nod, aren't you such a gentleman," M.K. responded, while walking much closer to him, which led Nod to assume that she would kiss him.

He quickly closed his eyes, and waited for M.K.'s lips to press against his own, but the only thing M.K. did next was whisper something in his ear.

"I appreciate your kindness, but I'm still not kissing you." M.K. spoke softly, before taking a few steps back and looked down at the pamphlet's map.

Nod let out a groan in disappointment and M.K. pretended not to hear it as she looked for a section that served food which was very healthful.

"Hey, Arrietty, do you mind if I get some food to eat and you can get your food after, or would you like to get some food first?" M.K. asked.

"It was you that planned this night out for all of us, M.K., so you should be the one to get your food first. I really don't mind." Arrietty answered.

"Thanks, Arrietty," M.K. said, as she gave the auburn-haired girl a quick hug before walking to her chosen section as everyone else followed her.

M.K. didn't feel the need to rush through finding the food that she wanted, since they had plenty of time before heading off to the movie theater. It certainly helped that all the cuisine was sorted in six categories which were new, local, vegetarian, seafood, gluten free, and containing nuts. The four teenagers took this time to take a glimpse at all the food trucks and vendors they passed by, but doing this only caused their stomachs to have a stronger feeling of hunger, and Nod felt like mentioning this to the others, but he didn't want to think he was complaining, so he kept himself quiet.

Nod decided to focus on something else, but as hard as he tried, all that he could think about was food, and it just made him feel more hungry. In spite of that, Nod still thought it was fair for M.K. and Arrietty to get their food first, since it was the polite and courteous thing for him to do. Thinking about that caused Nod to bring his mind to his girlfriend, particularly her lips, and the last time that he felt them press against his own.

Even though their first kiss had lasted only a few seconds, it really felt much longer for Nod, which is why he wanted to kiss M.K. so badly. He was willing to stay patient until the night was over and the magic that the queen of Moonhaven used on him and Arrietty wore off. Once that happened, they would go back to their normal sizes, and Nod believed that M.K. wouldn't let him leave without giving a kiss first.

All these thoughts swirling around in Nod's head were forgotten about when Nod realized that the others weren't in front of them anymore. The boy must have thought so hard about getting to kiss M.K. that he completely forgotten to focus on staying with M.K., Shawn, and Arrietty. Nod's eyes widened and he started to feel his hear his heart beat faster as he looked around to see where his girlfriend and friends could be.

He already begun to think of how upset M.K. was feeling right now from the fact that her boyfriend couldn't pay attention and stick by her side. It didn't seem like Nod would be given any kiss on the lips at all, and he probably won't get a peck on the cheek, a hug, or even a handshake. However, thinking about all of this lovey-dovey stuff wasn't going to help Nod any further in finding M.K. and the others and reuniting with them.

What he did first was push those thoughts far from his mind before thinking of the last place that he was with his girlfriend, Shawn, and Arrietty. Nod also believed that it was a good idea to stay calm, so he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to feel more relaxed and concentrate. Unfortunately, it didn't stay that way for long when Nod remembered that M.K. carried a map of this place but he had no clue of where she was.

The Leafman tried to think of a new plan until he decided to stay right where he was standing and wait until his fellow teens found him instead. If there was a hummingbird nearby, then Nod would've happily climbed on top of the bird and flown it around to search for the others all on his own.

Nod had been known to take lots of risks and always convinced himself that he didn't need help with anything, but it was different this time. This wasn't Moonhaven that he was in right now, but a world in which the only way that he could learn more knowledge about was with M.K.

"Hey, Nod!" A voice called out, and it's a voice that Nod knew quite well, but he thought it was in his head, and there was one way to know for sure.

He turned around to find himself face to face with Arrietty, M.K., and Shawn, and he could see the two girls were both carrying a small bowl of food. From the looks on their faces, it didn't seem any of them were upset with Nod, as if they knew that the three of them would find Nod eventually.

At first, Nod wasn't sure of whether to run up to them because he didn't want to make a scene, or walk to them since they were at a far distance. In the end, he decided to walk but in a brisk pace, so Nod was both running and walking, and it wasn't long before he stood face to face with them.

"Guys, I'm so sorry that I didn't stay with you, I was just thinking about. . .certain things, and that made me forget about everything else." Nod said.

Shawn, Arrietty, and M.K. all stayed silent and looked at each other before laughing, which caused Nod to simply raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"You don't have to apologize, Nod, and to be honest, we didn't really think we'd lost you because this place isn't really that large." M.K. replied.

"Wait a minute, were you not only panicking about not sticking close to us, but actually worried that we'd be angry with you?" Arrietty asked.

A frown slowly made its way onto Nod's face as he gave a nod of his head, and seeing this led to everyone else having a look of sympathy. Nod had brought his head down after nodding his head, but then he looked up to see each of the teens coming forward to give him a hug.

Receiving this physical contact from all of them at once was making Nod feel a lot better and relieved that he didn't ruin the night for them. Nod didn't like to shed tears, and so he wasn't going to weep now, but he did happen to cry for a long time after his parents passed away.

"Thanks, guys," Nod said, right before they all pulled back from each other. "Looks like you girls got some food, what did you get?" He asked.

"I got a nice penne pasta salad that's filled with cherry tomatoes, mild peppers and covered in a classic vinaigrette dressing." M.K. explained.

Hearing his girlfriend talk about her food obviously made Nod feel a lot more hungry, but he still wanted to know what Arrietty's food was too.

"I have vegetable soup, which has carrots and potatoes, along with garlic and parsley, and I also got a fresh loaf of bread with butter." Arrietty said.

Before he could say something, Nod's stomach made a growling sound, which caused Nod's eyes to widen and everyone else to laugh for a while.

"I think it's time you got something to eat, Nod, and we should find something soon before your stomach makes that sound again." M.K. suggested.

"If I remember correctly, you said earlier that you like to eat honey brittle, and other food that have nuts, seeds, berries, and fruit." Shawn mentioned.

"Yeah, that's right, and I don't need to get something that has all of those things, but I'd be happy if it does have one or two of them." Nod responded.

M.K. smiled before using one hand to take the pamphlet out of her sweater pocket and unfolded it while holding the bowl of food with the other hand.

"Good news, Nod, I believe that I've found the right place that has what you're interested in, and to make sure that you don't lose us. . ." M.K. trailed off.

She put the pamphlet back into her sweater pocket before linking arms with Nod, who obviously approved of his girlfriend's idea to keep him in sight. Arrietty and Shawn did the exact same thing, and even though they've already done a good job sticking together, they didn't want to risk losing each other.

They were familiar with type of this closeness, but the last time it was happening, Arrietty wasn't Shawn's size, and she always stood on his left shoulder. The reason for this had been so they could rescue Arrietty's mother, Homily, after she was captured by Hara, the nurse maid for Shawn's maternal Great Aunt Jessica.

Even after Shawn destroyed all traces of the Borrowers' presence from his aunt's home, Arrietty and her family still moved away to avoid being discovered again. It wasn't until a year after his operation when Shawn heard rumors of objects disappearing in his neighbors' homes and that made Shawn feel very happy.

Shawn felt much happier one night when he found Arrietty in the kitchen of his own home, and he wanted her to stay with him instead of move again. Although it took a while to convince her parents, Arrietty reminded them that if it wasn't for Shawn, then they all probably wouldn't still be alive today.

Ever since Shawn and Arrietty had reunited, she and her family stayed under the floorboards, and Arrietty had Shawn to thank for giving them a home. The feelings that were between the boy and Borrower have always been platonic, and neither of them had seen any reason for that to change soon.

When they saw each other for the very first time, Shawn called Arrietty "beautiful", but he was only being nice and didn't start to have a crush on her. They never bothered to tell this to one another, but Arrietty and Shawn didn't think having a romantic relationship could work out for them in the long run.

It was unlikely that Arrietty's parents would ever approve of their daughter dating a boy who wasn't born the same size as them, and couldn't be either. Not to mention the fact Shawn had parents living in the house and if they knew about Arrietty and her family, then his parents would probably get rid of them.

In spite of that, Shawn's parents hardly noticed when an object in particular went missing, because it was usually just food that Arrietty and her family took, and Shawn helped them out by letting them know of the time when his parents went to bed.

All in all, Arrietty's parents didn't mind staying with Shawn, and he was grateful that they decided to trust him and not move away to another house. Shawn and Arrietty stuck to each other and stayed close to M.K. as she took Nod to the exact same vendor where she got her penne pasta salad.

"Hey, Nod, I'm sure they must have a salad here which has most or even all the food that you like to eat." M.K. said, as she looked at the pamphlet.

Eventually, a smile came onto M.K.'s face, and Nod obviously knew that meant his girlfriend found a salad that she believed would be perfect for him.

"Excuse me?" M.K. asked, then she patiently waited before somebody came to the counter. "Could I please have this salad made for my boyfriend?

Nod's face quickly became flushed from M.K. saying the word 'boyfriend' out loud and in public, but he brought his head down so nobody could notice. It made Nod feel better to know that M.K. wasn't afraid to acknowledge that she had a boyfriend and didn't mind with letting people know it as well.

Not even five minutes had gone by before M.K. turned around with a bright smile on her face to present Nod with the salad that she ordered for him. Obviously, the salad did have the usual ingredient of fresh green lettuce, but it also included different types of nuts, fruit, and berries on top of the lettuce.

"Thanks, M.K.," Nod said as he gently took the salad from the girl's hands. "Wow, this salad looks good, but could you tell what's in it first?" He asked.

"With the nuts, there's almonds and cashews, hazelnuts and peanuts, and with the berries, there's raspberries and blackberries, and finally, with the fruit, there's apples, oranges, and grapes, but I hope that's not too much for you." M.K. explained.

"No, M.K., it isn't too much for me," Nod replied, before bringing his head up from the salad to face his girlfriend. "I know I've said this already, but thanks again."

"Your welcome, and before I forget, you can't eat your salad without this." M.K. declared, as she held up a plastic fork, which Nod quickly took from her fingers.

M.K., as well as Arrietty and Shawn could clearly tell that Nod was hungry, especially from he was taking bites of his salad without bothering to slow down.

"You shouldn't eat your salad too fast, Nod, because I've read that if you have food too quickly, then you're likely to get stomach gas and bloating." M.K. explained.

Right after he heard M.K. say that, Nod began to eat his salad in a much slower pace, and M.K. was glad to know that her boyfriend took her advice to heart.

"So, now that I have my food, and Arrietty has hers, and Nod has his now, the only person left who has to get their food is you, Shawn." M.K. announced.

"You said not long ago that you usually eat Chinese food," M.K. asked, and Shawn nodded his head. "Okay, so that shouldn't be too hard for us to find."

Once again, M.K. got her pamphlet out of her pocket and she took a moment to search the map for the location of where the Chinese food was being served.

"I found it," M.K. said, as she brought her head up to face everyone else. "Now then, please follow me, and I'm sure that we'll be there in no time!" She added.

Shawn, Arrietty, and Nod all followed M.K. for a while as she led them past a few fast trucks until they arrived at the vendor dishing out the food Shawn wanted.

"I'm not exactly sure of what items you'd like to eat, Shawn, so I'll let you make the order." M.K. told Shawn and stood by as he walked to the vendor's counter.

The others stayed quiet even as Shawn waited patiently for somebody to come to the counter so he could order his food, and fortunately, it didn't take long for that to happen. Less than ten minutes had passed before Shawn was eventually given a plate of food and he turned around so that his friends could see what it was he ordered.

"So, guys, I got a meal that I consider to be a favorite, and it's ramen noodles with sliced pork and green onions." Shawn explained with a happy tone of voice.

"Now that we all have our food, we should go find a table, so that way, we'll be able to give our legs some rest from walking so much." M.K. suggested.

For what would be the last time, M.K. reached into her pocket and took out the pamphlet to look for the area where all the tables had been arranged.

"We know that we're supposed to follow you, M.K., since it's you who has the map and all, so you don't need to tell us another time." Arrietty mentioned.

M.K. felt glad that she didn't have to remind the others to follow her, as she had done a few times already, and M.K. brought all of them to the tables. Each of the teenagers sat down on a chair before they ate their food at a slow pace, remembering what M.K. said about the dangers of eating too fast. Not one of them decided to start a conversation, because it would've been displaying such bad manners for somebody to talk and eat at the same time.

They actually found the silence between each other to be relaxing, since they all thought a break from talking was necessary, especially for M.K. herself. During this time, it really felt nice to put food in her mouth instead of have words come out, but M.K. knew that would change when they were done eating. She couldn't help but think about what Larry must be doing right now to keep himself busy while he waited for her and the others to return to his taxi.

M.K. believed that Larry wasn't feeling so bored, since he could listen to the radio and hear any kind of music he wanted, not to mention eat his sandwich. All of a sudden, M.K. remembered she was supposed to get Larry a sandwich, but she decided that could wait after they were all finished with their meal. Larry had recently given M.K. a piece of paper which contained a list of all the specific food and condiments in a sandwich that he didn't want to be cold either.

M.K took a break from eating her food to check if she still had the piece of paper in her pocket, and the girl sighed in relief to see it again after pulling it out. To make sure that she wouldn't forget about it, M.K. put the piece of paper on the table in front of her, and had it flattened out since it was a little crumpled. She returned to eating the rest of her food, and once M.K. was finally finished, she kept quiet while waiting patiently for the others to finish their food too.

M.K. had to admit she felt a little bored, but the only thing she could think of to keep herself busy was look at the list of food Larry wanted in his sandwich. Even now, it still amazed M.K. of how much Larry had requested, because she honestly never took him for a big eater, although she didn't bother asking him. She was hoping that after he got the sandwich, Larry would take small bites of it, much like in the same way M.K. and the others had been eating their food. M.K.'s train of thought about Larry and his sandwich came to a stop when she noticed that Nod, as well as Arrietty and Shawn, were all done with their meal. Before any of the three stood up from their seat, M.K. had already got herself up and picked up not only her empty plate, but also everyone else's plate too.

"You guys don't have to get up just yet," M.K. said, while holding the plates. "I need to get Larry a sandwich, and then we can all head back for the taxi."

The girl waited until each of them nodded their head before leaving to find the vendor which would be able to make the kind of sandwich Larry requested. Instead of having the piece of paper in one of her hands like earlier, M.K. decided to keep it safe in her pocket, so that way, she wouldn't end up losing it. When she finally reached the vendor, M.K. handed over the piece of paper to somebody behind the counter, so they could personally know what she wanted.

M.K. figured it was much better than to read out the list of edible items one by one, because it didn't hurt to give her voice a break every now and then. Despite the fact she had to wait longer than usual, M.K. didn't find that to be a problem, since it hadn't been the first time she waited for something tonight.

"Miss, your sandwich is ready, but you'll need to carry it with both hands." The worker advised, and M.K. quickly made sure each of her hands were available.

As soon as Larry's sandwich appeared on the counter, M.K.'s eyes widened of how big it was, and she couldn't believe this was actually what Larry wanted. This wasn't the kind of sandwich M.K. could carry with her hands underneath, it was the kind she'll need to have one hand on top to keep it from falling apart.

That's exactly how M.K. decided to carry Larry's sandwich once the worker carefully brought it over to her, and she walked slowly to get back to the other teens. Just like with M.K., everyone quickly got a wide-eyed expression on their face right when they saw the sandwich she was holding very tightly with her hands.

"Whoa, that's the sandwich Larry wanted," Nod asked in disbelief, while pointing a finger at the sandwich. "That thing is huge, M.K., so what's in it anyway?"

M.K. took a deep breath before saying all of the ingredients. "Cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, ham, turkey, beef, chicken, ketchup, mustard, and relish."

"I've never thought of Larry to be a big eater, but that's probably because I haven't seen his entire body, and I'm not really sure I want to." Nod answered.

"It doesn't really matter, so now that I have his sandwich, we can all head back to the taxi." M.K. declared, before seeing everyone else nod in agreement.

Even though M.K. didn't think it was necessary for them to do that, Nod, Shawn, and Arrietty all kept an eye on her as she continued to carry the sandwich. Although she thought it was nice they were looking out for her, none of them had to worry too much, since their walk to the taxi only took a few minutes.

When the four teenagers finally saw Larry's taxi in the distance, M.K. felt tempted to shout out his name to get his attention, but she decided not to do that. Larry had been listening to the radio at a very high volume, but when he noticed the teens approaching, Larry turned down the radio so it wasn't too loud.

"Hey, guys, you're back, and I see that you got what I wanted." Larry said, while looking at the sandwich. "I was kinda worried you wouldn't get it for me."

"Larry, you actually thought after bringing us here, we would let you starve?" M.K. asked, before she carefully gave the sandwich over to the taxi driver.

"Thanks, M.K., I really appreciate this," Larry answered, and then he took a bite of his sandwich as the teenagers got themselves into the taxi, one by one.

"Just to let you guys know, I won't be driving until I've finished my sandwich, because I don't think it's right to eat and drive at the same time." Larry said.

"That's good to know, Larry, but don't worry, we're not in a rush, so please take your time." M.K. replied, as she assumed they wouldn't have to wait long.

M.K. and the rest of the teenagers didn't bother to start a conversation, since they were sure the only thing it would do is delay Larry from eating his food. The only sound that they could hear at the moment wasn't from the radio, but Larry himself, as he chomped on his sandwich as if there was no tomorrow.

All of a sudden, Arrietty couldn't help but giggle at the noises Larry was making, as she found them to be funny, but tried to be quiet so he wouldn't hear. She didn't care if Nod, M.K., and Shawn all heard her giggling, but when they did, it took each of them a few seconds to realize why Arrietty was giggling. It wasn't long until they were all joining in with Arrietty‚ and for a short time‚ they let themselves enjoy the sound of their musical giggles in unison.

"What are you kids laughing about?" Larry asked, and hearing that question caused the four teens to stop giggling and come up with a good answer.

Obviously, they weren't going to tell Larry that he was the reason they had been giggling in the first place, since none of them wanted to hurt his feelings. If that were to happen, then Larry probably wouldn't take them to the movie theater and back to M.K.'s house, and they'd end up having to walk instead.

"It's the way I'm eating my sandwich, isn't it?" Larry guessed, and the teenagers weren't sure of whether to be relieved or scared he knew the reason.

"If it's because you didn't want to hurt my feelings, then you can relax, I've heard a lot of people laugh over how I eat in the past." Larry revealed.

Larry couldn't help but chuckle when he heard all of his passengers let out a sigh of relief, since they didn't have to go through with lying to him.

"Hey, Larry, I have to ask because I'm curious," M.K. said. "Do you eat like that only to make people laugh or is it just how you always eat?" She asked.

"It usually depends on what I'm eating, M.K., if it's something small, then I take small bites, but if it's something big, then I take big bites." Larry explained.

M.K. was about to respond when Larry started up the taxi, which meant he finished his sandwich, and M.K. wondered how he managed to eat it so quickly. She had to have given that sandwich to Larry like ten minutes ago, but it didn't really matter, considering he was now taking them to the movie theater. Both M.K. and Shawn made sure to put on their seat belt and they helped Arrietty and Nod put on theirs as well, so they would all be safe in the taxi.

"So what movie are you kids gonna see?" Larry asked, because he didn't want to have any awkward silence between him and his passengers.

"Actually, we haven't really decided on a movie yet, Larry," Shawn confessed. "We're going to see what's showing before we do choose one."

"Okay, then what kind of movie are you interested in seeing, and I'm going to be a gentleman and let the ladies answer first." Larry replied.

Arrietty and M.K. took a moment to look at each other for a few seconds before Arrietty motioned for M.K. to go ahead in giving her answer.

"I'm hoping to see a movie that can make me laugh a lot, and in my opinion, you can't go wrong with seeing a funny movie." M.K. responded.

Larry gave a nod of his head in agreement, as he couldn't argue with what M.K. just told him, and then he waited patiently for Arrietty's reply.

"I'd like to see a movie with an exciting adventure, and I wouldn't mind if there's a love story between the lead characters." Arrietty revealed.

Instead of nodding like he did a few seconds ago, Larry kept his head still, which probably meant he wasn't such a fan of romance in movies.

"Alright, boys! It's your turn now!" Larry announced, and then Nod and Shawn looked briefly at one another, wondering who should go first.

It wasn't long until Nod decided to let Shawn give his answer before him, especially since Shawn had more knowledge of movies like M.K. did.

"I'll be happy with any movie that has great drama, like raw emotional moments caused by the decisions the characters make." Shawn said.

Larry nodded his head again, but this time, he did it in a slow motion, meaning he found what he heard from Shawn to be very unexpected. Shawn, M.K., and Arrietty all turned to face Nod, as they were quite curious to know his answer, especially since Nod's never seen a movie.

"I'd like to see a movie that's a mix of what the others said, and I mean a movie with comedy, romance, drama, and adventure." Nod told Larry.

What the Leafman rookie didn't know was that everyone else in the taxi was impressed by his answer, since they had a small grin on their face.

"I wish I could suggest a movie that's perfect for all of you, but I can't help because I haven't been to the movies for a while." Larry confessed.

"That's okay, Larry, I'm sure we'll find a good movie, and luckily, because it's Toonie Tuesday, the prices for tickets will be cheap." M.K. replied.

"Well, if the prices are cheap, then it's probably gonna be very busy," Larry informed. "Let's hope it's not, so you'll get to be a movie." He added.

"Yes, that's a good idea," M.K. said, before turning to face the others. "Guys, if there's a big crowd, then we have to stick together." M.K. advised.

Nod obviously agreed with his girlfriend, as he was thinking about how he'd lost them when they were around the food trucks and vendors earlier. The last thing Nod wanted to happen was lose sight of them again, or they wouldn't have enough time to see a movie and return to M.K.'s house.

Another thing that Nod worried about was if they could manage to choose a movie that would satisfy everyone and leave none of them disappointed. It was obviously going to be a little hard, considering the other teens told Larry that they'd wanted to see a movie with a completely different genre. Hopefully, all these differences wouldn't lead to an argument between the four of them and their double date wouldn't be cut short as a result too.

"All right, kids, we're almost there!" Larry announced, and the teenagers looked out the window to see they were approaching the movie theater.

M.K. glanced at her watch to know what time it was now. 'It's past six o'clock, so that gives us plenty of time to decide on a movie.' She thought.

"Hey, Larry, am I crazy, or are you really a fast driver, because you got us to the theater in what, less than half an hour?" Nod asked curiously.

"Less than twenty minutes, actually, and it helps when there's not much traffic, and you know a few good shortcuts as well." Larry explained.

Hearing this made Nod think of the time when he won a flying race back in Moonhaven, even though he'd made a bet with a bullfrog to lose. There were often times when Nod would miss the fun of racing, but he knew that his father wouldn't be proud of him if he wasn't a Leafman. Nod recalled that Ronin had described his father as a respected and experienced fellow soldier, so Nod wanted to acquire that status for himself.

He used to think that Ronin was smothering him, but Nod knew that Ronin was trying to take care of him after promising his father that he would. Nod's father was very close with Ronin before he fell in battle to the Boggans, so it made sense why Ronin chose to look after his best friend's son. The boy almost felt like shedding a tear from thinking of his father, but Nod was going to see a movie, so he couldn't let his emotions get in the way.

If the movie they see happened to be a tearjerker, then Nod might allow himself to cry, but he didn't want to embarrass himself for a second time. To everyone's surprise, there were a lot of empty spaces in the parking lot, but Larry was planning to drive his taxi all the way to the front entrance. Larry figured that the four teens had done more than enough walking, from getting something to eat then having to walk back to his taxi after that.

Fortunately, there wasn't a law that prevented Larry from parking his taxi so close to the building, so Larry was perfectly comfortable with his spot. Once they saw that Larry had parked, each of the teens got themselves out of the taxi, with M.K. being the last and she closed the door behind her.

"Thanks for parking at the front, Larry," M.K. said, while facing him. "Aren't you going to see a movie too, or is it wrong to leave your taxi unattended?"

"As much as I want to, M.K., I can't leave this car until I come home, although I'll probably go inside if I have to use the restroom." Larry answered.

"Yes, it would be bad if you ignored the call of nature," M.K. replied in agreement before she burst out laughing, and Larry didn't hesitate to join her.

Arrietty couldn't help but giggle, since she was close enough to hear M.K. just said, and it wasn't long before Shawn and Nod were laughing too.

"Thanks for the joke," Larry responded, after taking a deep breath to calm down from laughing so much. "Now go see a movie before it's too late."

M.K. simply gave a nod of her head before walking away from the taxi to join the others, and Larry didn't hesitate to turn the radio on a high volume. Once they were inside, any theater employees who weren't behind a counter, as well as customers had begun to take notice of Nod and his clothes.

From the looks on their faces, they had never seen this kind of clothing before, from the short-sleeved scruffy white tunic to the boots made of leaves. Nod wasn't aware of all this attention toward him since he was looking up at the movie posters and banners that hung from the walls of the theater.

M.K. didn't notice either because she was deciding on whether they should get candy or popcorn, even though they had a meal a half-hour ago. Ultimately, M.K. felt it was better to hold back on making that decision, at least until she found out if the others had any room left in their stomach.

"Hey, guys, can I ask you a question?" M.K. asked, and she waited for everyone else to face her before speaking again. "Are you still hungry?"

"I'm not hungry, M.K., but I wouldn't mind getting a drink." Shawn replied, before turning to look at Nod and Arrietty. "So what about you two?"

"I'd like to have just a drink for myself." Arrietty answered, and she kept quiet so that Nod could give his answer. "A drink and nothing else."

"I'm rather full from my meal too, so it's decided, we'll all have only a drink, but first, let's choose what movie we're going to watch." M.K. said.

After saying that, M.K. led the others to a couple of big screens which displayed the movies playing, and also all of their showtimes and ratings. What M.K. and Shawn didn't notice was that both Nod's eyes and Arrietty's eyes had widened from the exact total of movies, which was sixteen.

"Hey, guys," Nod spoke, causing the rest of the teens to look in his direction. "How are we supposed to choose a movie if there's so many to choose from?" He asked.

"Actually, Nod, it's not so hard. We just have to find a movie with a rating that's suitable for all of us." M.K. responded, before walking closer to the screens.

M.K. was no stranger to movies, as her parents used to take her to see them since she was a kid, but that stopped when M.K.'s mother, Susan, passed away, and her father became fully engrossed in his studies of the Leafmen. Even though it's been a while since M.K.'s seen a movie in a theater, the redhead took this as an opportunity to explain the ratings for Arrietty and Nod, considering they were obviously new to this experience.

"'G' is short for general viewing, so if a movie has that rating, it means anyone can see it, and it doesn't matter how old you are, but if a movie's rated 'PG', which means parental guidance, then there might be scenes in the movie that are unsuitable for young children." M.K. explained.

As M.K. took a deep breath from talking a lot, she noticed that Nod's mouth and Arrietty's mouth had become agape, which probably meant they were amazed that M.K. knew so much about movies. She wasn't done yet, since there were a few more ratings M.K. wanted to make clear to them.

"If a movie's rated 'PG-13', then it may have scenes that are inappropriate for children under thirteen. If movie's rated 'R', which is short for restricted, then anybody under the age of seventeen requires a parent or an adult guardian to accompany them. Finally, if a movie's rated 'NC-17', that means the movie's only for adults and anybody who's seventeen or under isn't allowed to see it." M.K. finished, before talking another deep breath.

"Wow, M.K., you really know a lot about movies," Arrietty replied. "So I guess we can't see a movie with that last rating, right?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm nineteen, and so is Nod," M.K. said, before turning to have a glimpse at her boyfriend. "I should know that because he told me."

"I'm sixteen and I'm not sure how old is Shawn since he's never told me his age, but I've never had a reason to know." Arrietty revealed.

"Well, I'm fourteen, and just so you all know, I don't mind that Arrietty's older than me, and it's never bothered me either." Shawn added.

"Don't worry, Shawn, I don't find that embarrassing at all. In fact, I used to have a lot of older friends back in high school." M.K. responded.

"Okay, guys, now that we know all the movie ratings and each other's age, maybe we can finally choose a movie to watch." Nod suggested.

Nod was happy to see that everyone else had agreed with him by nodding their head and so they all brought their attention back to the showtime screens. At first, the four teens thought it would take them forever to choose a movie, considering the amount, but to their relief, it only took several minutes. They had managed to pick a Disney movie titled Tomorrowland, since the movie's title alone had captured their interest more than any other movie. Its title hadn't been the only reason, Tomorrowland had a 'G' rating, which meant there weren't any scenes that had inappropriate content. M.K. and Shawn obviously paid for the tickets since they had the money, and fortunately, there was enough to buy a drink for each of them.

"I already know what drink I'm going to have," M.K. said, before turning to face the others. "So what kind of drink do you guys want?" She asked.

"M.K., I'm going to have an iced tea." Shawn answered, then him and M.K. waited for what choice of beverage Arrietty and Nod would tell them.

"I've never gotten tired of having a drink made out of strawberries or other fruit, so I'll have the 'strawberry passion' drink." Arrietty announced.

The only person left to make their choice of beverage known was none other than Nod, who the others assumed was still making a decision, but what they didn't know was that the Leafmen rookie already knew exactly what he wanted for a drink.

"I know what I want, guys, and that's a root beer," Nod declared before he turned to face M.K. "I didn't know your world had drinks with root."

Right after she heard that, M.K. began to giggle, which caused Nod to become confused and wonder what did he say was so funny to his girlfriend.

"Not every drink in my world has root, Nod, but yes, root beer's a soft drink flavored with extracts of certain plant roots and herbs." M.K. explained.

"Wow, I haven't even tasted root beer, but it sounds like it's definitely going to be my new favorite drink." Nod said, making an quick assumption.

Since she now knew what each of them wanted, M.K. paid for her drink and Nod's drink in a medium size, and Shawn did the same for his drink and Arrietty's drink. Even though Nod and Shawn had offered to carry their drinks, Arrietty and M.K. insisted they could do it themselves, but thanked them for the offer.

"So which auditorium are we in, guys?" Arrietty asked curiously, and this caused M.K. and Shawn to take the tickets out from their pockets since they still had them.

"We're in auditorium number seven." M.K. replied, as she led the way, but not before bringing the ticket down from her eyes, but kept it in her hand.

"How long has this movie been in theaters?" Nod inquired, since he felt genuinely interested. "Do you think there'll be enough seats for us, M.K.?"

"I'm sure there will be, Nod, because it's been in theaters for a few weeks now, so that means a lot of people have seen it already." M.K. replied.

"Oh, that's good, so then there won't be too many people in the theater." Nod said in relief as they all came up to an employee who checked tickets.

After their tickets were approved, the four teens made their way into the auditorium and searched for an aisle that had four seats next to each other. Luckily, they had managed to find good seats, and they weren't too close to the screen, but far away enough so they could see the whole screen.

"Arrietty, Nod," M.K. said, while facing them. "You don't have to carry your drink the whole time we're in here, because there's cup holders." She added.

"Great!" Nod and Arrietty exclaimed in unison, and this caused them to glance at one another and laugh for a bit before setting down in their seats.

"This is so comfortable," Arrietty voiced, and let out a sigh of relief. "Hey, M.K., what's the difference between these red seats and the black ones?"

"The red seats we're sitting in are D-BOX, and they make seeing a movie much more fun by literally moving to what's happening in the movie. It's kind of like being in a ride at a theme park, only we don't go around a track or anything, we just stay in the same place." M.K. explained.

"M.K., what about these buttons here?" Nod asked, while pointing to a control pad located on the right side of M.K.'s seat. "What are they for?"

"Those are the selection buttons, Nod. They help raise and lower the level of motion in your seat. Would you like it to be higher?" M.K. asked.

When her boyfriend gave a nod, M.K. pointed to the button which had a symbol of an arrow going up, and Nod knew what that meant right away. Nod brought his eyes to the control pad that was connected to his own seat and he pressed the up button until it was at the highest level possible.

"Thanks for the help, M.K.," Nod said, as he turned to face her and gave a smile, but what happened next really took him by surprise.

M.K. had leaned forward to give her boyfriend a peck on the cheek, which caused Nod's eyes to widen and also his cheeks to turn red.

"Your welcome," M.K. whispered in his ear before moving back to sit in her seat, while Nod was still feeling speechless for a short time.

"I thought you said that I couldn't get a kiss until the date was over," Nod reminded, as he brought a hand up to the spot where M.K. kissed him.

"A kiss on the lips, if I hadn't been more specific earlier, and you've waited for quite a while now, so I thought you earned one." M.K. explained.

"When you say "one", M.K., do you mean just one kiss, or one for each cheek?" Nod asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on his face too.

"Alright, now you're pushing it." M.K. responded, and hearing this caused Nod to change his expression into a mix between a frown and a pout.

"You can make that face as long as you want, but it's not going to change my mind, and when I said one kiss, I meant just one." M.K. declared.

"Sorry." Nod whispered, before turning to face the screen, and only a few seconds passed before Nod spoke up again. "I'll behave, I promise."

M.K. couldn't really tell if Nod was being either serious or sarcastic, but he did make a promise to her, so M.K. considered that to be a good thing. Since she didn't want Nod to think she was upset with him, M.K. brought her right hand over Nod's left hand before lacing her fingers with his own. Nod seemed to get the message loud and clear when he glanced at the display of affection M.K. was giving him and a smile had come to his face.

"Hey, Shawn, look at those lovebirds! Aren't they cute?" Arrietty teased, and hearing this caused M.K. and Nod to let go of each other's hands.

Even though Arrietty only meant to whisper to Shawn, she had unfortunately been loud enough for the other couple to hear what she just said. Obviously, both Nod and M.K. felt quite embarrassed, since they got caught up in the moment and had forgotten that Arrietty and Shawn were nearby. However, both the Leafmen rookie and his significant other actually felt grateful, because if Arrietty hadn't said anything, then they probably wouldn't have brought their attention back to the movie screen. It seemed like Arrietty was right to speak up at the time, because each and every bright light in the theater had begun to dim until they were completely off, and all of the teens became a lot more excited too. Since Tomorrowland was a Disney movie, they got to see several previews of movies which were clearly for kids, from the Despicable Me spin-off, Minions, the Disney/Pixar movie Inside Out, and finally, the new Peanuts movie.

"That movie was so awesome!" Nod exclaimed while pumping a fist as him and M.K., along with Shawn and Arrietty walked out of the auditorium.

M.K. couldn't help but let out a few giggles from seeing her boyfriend's enthusiasm, but made sure to cover her mouth so that Nod wouldn't hear.

"Well, Nod, I'm glad to hear you liked it." M.K. replied before turning to face the Borrower and her friend. "So, what did you two think of it?" She asked.

"I thought Tomorrowland looked amazing and I wish it was a real place!" Arrietty answered with delight before keeping quiet so Shawn could speak.

"I enjoyed the movie very much, and if anyone asked me what movie they should see, I'd definitely recommend Tomorrowland to them." Shawn said.

"Guys, we should really do this again sometime," Arrietty suggested, while feeling hopeful that she could spend more time with M.K. and Nod in the future.

"As much as that would be great, Arrietty, I doubt the Queen of Moonhaven will keep using her powers just so we can have more double dates." M.K. replied.

The smile on Arrietty's face had begun to be replaced with a frown as she let the information sink in, and Shawn was the first to notice the change in his best friend's expression.

"Don't be upset, Arrietty, the four of us will still get to hang out together. You and Nod just won't be the same size as me and M.K anymore." Shawn said.

"I know, Shawn, but it's just for the past few hours, we didn't have to think about that, but it's now going to be a constant reminder again." Arrietty responded.

"Arrietty, I never considered your size to be a problem ever since I met you, and I didn't let that stop me from being friends with you either." Shawn confessed.

Since what Shawn said just now did make her feel better, a smile made its way onto Arrietty's face, and when she faced Shawn, he smiled right back at her.

"You know, guys, when I'm back in Moonhaven, I could ask the Queen if she'd use her powers for us more often, but I doubt she'll say yes." Nod informed.

"It's okay, Nod, you don't have to ask the Queen. If her powers were meant to be used for only the forest, then it should stay that way." Arrietty said.

"Are you sure, because I could suggest for the Queen to use her powers for us at least once a month, so it wouldn't be too many times." Nod replied.

Arrietty was about to shake her head and say no when she started thinking about Nod's suggestion for a moment before deciding it was a good idea. She wouldn't have to always make a wish that her and Nod could be bigger occasionally, and besides, once a month would be more than enough for her.

"On second thought, Nod, it wouldn't hurt to ask the Queen, because even if she does say no, then at least we would have an answer." Arrietty said.

All of the other teens soon had a smile on their face, since they were glad to see that Arrietty wasn't feeling so sad and she was much more positive. Suddenly, M.K. remembered Larry and she realized they weren't any closer to the theater's entrance, but were standing just outside the auditorium.

"C'mon, guys, we shouldn't keep Larry waiting any longer for us, considering he already had to wait almost two hours by now." M.K. reminded.

"Really? He didn't bother to come in here to see a movie like we did and just sat in his taxi outside for the whole time?" Nod asked sarcastically.

"Well, Larry did say that it's against the law to leave a taxi without a driver, or at least I think that's what he meant at the time." M.K. answered.

"Whoa, the guy must be pretty dedicated to his job if he's willing to stay in a car that has only a radio to keep himself busy." Nod responded.

M.K. simply gave a nod in agreement to her boyfriend before leading both him and her friends outside the theater, and to their surprise, Larry's taxi wasn't parked close by.

"Don't worry, guys, I'm sure that the reason we don't see Larry right now is because he had to go find an actual parking spot." M.K. assured.

Nod, Arrietty, and Shawn all felt a little more relaxed after they heard this, and the sight of a familiar taxi approaching certainly helped as well. When the taxi finally did come up in front of the theater, M.K. and everyone else could notice that Larry had an anxious expression on his face.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't parked right here for you kids. It's just that vehicles can only park here to drop people off or pick them up." Larry claimed.

"You don't have to apologize, Larry. We weren't really waiting that long, we came out of the theater just a few minutes ago." M.K. reassured.

Larry heaved a huge sigh of relief as each of the teens got into the taxi, but not before showing Larry they weren't upset with a genuine smile.

"Back to your house, then?" Larry asked, while looking back at M.K., who nodded, and he waited until everyone had on their seatbelt before driving off.

"So tell me, how was the movie?" Larry inquired, and that's when his young passengers took a turn to gush about the movie, with the girls going first.

By the time that they finished, Larry was silent for a moment, but the teens figured that he was just taking some time to process everything he heard.

"Sounds like it was great! I guess I'll make sure to see that movie when I have the time." Larry informed, as he kept his eyes on the road in front of him.

The remainder of the taxi ride back to M.K.'s house was quiet, mostly due to the fact that the teens didn't have something else to talk about with Larry. Although there was the topic of whether or not the Queen of Moonhaven would use her powers for Arrietty and Nod again in the future, it wasn't such a happy topic to discuss, not to mention that Larry didn't know about Nod and Arrietty's regular sizes. The only thing that the teens could do at the moment was hope that the Queen would say yes, but if she didn't, then they'll still accept her answer.

M.K. and the others were already grateful for the hours they got to spend together without having to worry about Arrietty and Nod getting stomped on. However, if they were granted the chance to experience a lot more nights with the four of them being the same size, then they'd be undoubtedly elated. It wasn't until the sight of M.K.'s house that caused the redhead, her boyfriend, and both of their friends to change the expression on their faces.

"Larry, thank you so much for being our driver," M.K. said, before she got out the taxi and walked over to his window. "We really appreciate it." She added.

"It was my pleasure, and I'd be happy to drive you kids again." Larry replied, as everyone else exited the vehicle. "Just let me know when and where."

"I will, Larry, and once again, thank you," M.K. responded, then she lent out a hand for Larry, who brought out his own hand and shook M.K.'s firmly.

Once they finished with their handshake, M.K. took a few steps back while Larry rolled up his window before driving off, but not before waving goodbye.

"Hey, M.K.," Arrietty asked, and she waited until M.K. was facing her before speaking again. "Do you know exactly when me and Nod will change back?"

"No, Arrietty, I'm not sure, but it's pretty dark out now, so we should probably go inside the house before we start to catch a cold." M.K. suggested.

Arrietty nodded and then she let M.K. lead the way into her house, with Nod and Shawn following not far behind and one of them closing the door.

"Dad?" M.K. said out loud, wondering if her father was still awake, but when she didn't get a reply, M.K. knew that her father had gone off to bed.

"Just so you guys know, my dad's asleep, so we have to be very quiet, but that doesn't mean we still can't talk to each other, though." M.K. informed.

Shawn, Nod, and Arrietty did exactly what M.K. had told them and they tried to be as silent as possible while they walked into the living room. To their relief, the room didn't stay dark for long since M.K. turned on a lamp, so now they'd be able to see the person they wanted to talk to. M.K. and Nod sat together on a couch, while Arrietty and Shawn did the same on another, and a few seconds went by before Shawn spoke up.

"So, Nod, when you talked to the Queen earlier, did she tell you how much longer the magic will last for you and Arrietty?" Shawn asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Shawn, but Queen Mari didn't tell me, only that every time she does use her magic, it takes a lot of energy out of her." Nod replied.

All of a sudden, M.K. started to panic because she remembered telling Nod that she wouldn't kiss him on the lips until the end of their double date. Neither of them had any idea when him and Arrietty would shrink back, so M.K. grabbed her boyfriend by his shirt and brought her lips to his own. Obviously, Nod was taken by surprise from this happening, and the same went for Arrietty and Shawn, since they didn't expect it to happen either.

Nevertheless, it was a kiss, so Nod didn't bother with pushing away M.K. and soon, it became a lot more passionate when they used their tongues. What the couple playing tonsil hockey didn't notice was that they were making Arrietty and Shawn so uncomfortable to the point of leaving the room. At first, the borrower and her friend thought it was cute seeing M.K. and Nod kissing, but now, it seemed a little gross with how long it was going on.

"Ahem!" Shawn cleared his throat as loud as he could, but when Nod and M.K. still continued their make-out session, it was time to literally separate them.

Just as Shawn got off the couch, his eyes widened as Nod finally began to shrink and Shawn turned to see that the same thing was happening to Arrietty. Coincidentally, this had caused M.K. and Nod to stop kissing, and a sad frown to quickly come onto M.K.'s face as she saw Nod return to his regular size. If there's one thing that Shawn and M.K. got from this, it's the Queen didn't have to be around people to change their size, she could just use her mind. Eventually, Shawn took his own mind away from Arrietty's size and thought of how he would return home, since his parents were probably asleep by now.

"M.K.?" Shawn said, and hearing her name had gotten M.K. to slowly turn her head and face Shawn. "Could you please give me Larry's number?" He asked.

The redhead was about to ask why he needed it, when M.K. realized that Shawn didn't have a ride home, so she looked for a pen and a piece of paper. Once she had Larry's phone number written on a post-it note, she gave it to Shawn, who went over to the house's telephone and dialed the number. M.K. sat down quietly on the couch where Arrietty was, and Nod watched as she brought the palm of her left hand down and in front of the borrower, who didn't hesitate to step onto M.K's palm, and then M.K. raised her palm up closer to her face.

"Arrietty, it was such a pleasure to not only meet you, but to spend time with you, and I hope this won't be the last time we'll see each other." M.K. said.

"I hope so too, M.K." Arrietty replied, but not before giving a bright smile to M.K.. who smiled back and lowered her palm, so that Arrietty could step off safely and return to standing on the couch.

When she heard the sound of footsteps, M.K. turned around to see Shawn approaching, and she assumed that he either just finished his call, or somehow, he wasn't able to reach Larry on the end of the line.

"Larry isn't that far away, so he'll be back in a few minutes." Shawn revealed, which meant the answer to M.K.'s assumption was the former and not the latter.

"That's good," M.K. responded, before looking at Arrietty and Nod. "I don't know why I feel so sad about this. We knew this was going to happen." She added.

"Maybe because you wish that it didn't have to be this way all the time, so it wouldn't be an issue whenever you and Nod are together." Shawn responded.

M.K. looked at Shawn in astonishment, since that's exactly how she was feeling, and she couldn't help but wonder if Shawn felt that way about his friendship with Arrietty.

"Well, Nod's going to ask the Queen if she can use her powers for us more often, so all we can do is just hope that she'll say yes." M.K. reminded.

Shawn was about to say something when him and the others teens all heard the sound of a car horn, which must have meant that Larry had arrived.

"Hey, Shawn, are you sure that Larry said 'a few minutes' or 'a few seconds?" M.K. asked, and this joke caused the two of them to laugh for a moment.

M.K. got up from the couch and hugged Shawn, but not before waiting for him to come forward so that it was okay and she didn't take him by surprise.

"It was great to see you again, M.K.," Shawn said, as they remained in their embrace for no longer than less than ten sounds before they pulled away.

Shawn walked over to the couch and he did exactly what M.K. had done not so long ago by bringing a hand down for Arrietty to step onto and stand on. Using his other hand, Shawn tried to unbutton his shirt pocket, and he chuckled when he looked down to see that the pocket didn't have any buttons. Shawn brought his left hand right up to his shirt pocket so that Arrietty could jump in without having a chance of falling and getting herself hurt badly.

"Goodnight, M.K.," Arrietty and Shawn said in unison, but when they realized what just happened, the two giggled quietly, since they knew that M.K.'s father was sleeping.

"Goodnight, guys, and I don't mean to rush you out, but you should probably go now before Larry honks his horn again and my dad wakes up." M.K. suggested.

Shawn and Arrietty both a gave a nod to M.K. before the boy walked over to the front door, which he opened slowly and closed without making much noise at all. Not even thirty seconds had passed when M.K. heard the sound of Larry's taxi driving off once more, and she brought her attention back to her miniature boyfriend.

"I guess it's time for you to return home." M.K. declared, as she looked down at Nod for a moment before going to her father's office, where he kept his equipment.

M.K. put on one of Professor Bomba's tricked-out helmets to help her see and hear Nod better, but not before she turned on a lamp first so that she'd be able to find it easily. She walked back into the living room and then went to the couch that Nod was currently standing on, and she did the same routine of getting a tiny person onto her palm. Now that Nod was sitting comfortably on top of her left shoulder, M.K. tiptoed across the house until she was outside, where the girl moved herself closer to the forest. It seemed like M.K. didn't have to walk all the way through the forest to find Moonhaven when Nod made a loud whistle sound, which caused a hummingbird to arrive.

This had M.K. feeling very impressed, since Moonhaven was a long distance away from her house, and yet, a hummingbird managed to show up in less than a single minute. M.K. watched as Nod stood up carefully and mounted the hummingbird, but before leaving, he flew up and gave a peck on his girlfriend's cheek which left M.K. feeling flushed. Even though she saw that Nod had flown off into the forest, M.K. stood right where she was for about a few seconds before turning around and heading back into her house. M.K. was almost going to take off her father's helmet, put it back in his office, and head straight for bed when she remembered Nod's important suggestion for the Queen.

Nod would probably come right back to tell her the news, and M.K. didn't want to wait or miss it either, so she sat down at a computer in her father's office and turned it on. M.K. didn't think the computer's beep sound would wake up her father, even if it did echo through the house, since it was only made three times before an image appeared. Perhaps her father was listening to bat calls or some other animal on his mp3 player, or he was borrowing her iPod, which M.K. left behind at home instead of taking it with her. Unfortunately, M.K. didn't get a chance to think about that more when she heard a beep sound go off, which caused M.K. to yelp in surprise, and get her heart beating faster. M.K. closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself down before bringing her attention back to the computer, which now had an image of Nod flying his hummingbird.

"She said yes, M.K.! She said yes!" Nod exclaimed, while pumping a fist in the air, and a big grin quickly came onto M.K.'s face from what she just heard her boyfriend tell her.

"By the way, thanks for the kiss!" Nod shouted, before flying away, and that's when M.K. turned off the computer, took off her father's helmet, and felt her cheeks flush again.

Since it was the middle of the night, M.K. would wait until tomorrow to tell Shawn and Arrietty the good news, but for now, it was time for M.K. to go to bed and get some rest. After going up to her bedroom, M.K changed into her pajamas and went to sleep with a smile on her face, knowing that her and Nod would get to have a lot more double dates in the future.

Fin


End file.
